Fairfax to buy BlackBerry for $4.7 Billion

The BlackBerry, which is facing a turbulent time after the postponement of its BBM global roll out, has confirmed the sale to Fairfax for $4.7 billion. The Toronto-based Fairfax Financial Holdings was trying to acquire BlackBerry aggressively. The deal was finally clinched, bringing great relief to both sides.

Fairfax currently owns approximately 10% of Blackberry common shares. A firm deal between the two, will be signed by November 2013. The official statement from BlackBerry said, “The company has signed a letter of intent agreement under which a consortium to be led by Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited has offered to acquire the company subject to due diligence.”

Only last week, BlackBerry had decided to lay off 40% of their employees globally. The company had been struggling for a long time after failing to cope up with the competition in the smartphone market. The much-awaited BBM would be rolled out soon to be available free of cost on Google Play Store and Apple Store.