BlackBerry may go Private

BlackBerry has recently set up a committee to explore strategic alternatives, including joint ventures, partnerships or a sale of the company. BlackBerry may go Private

Former Goldman Sachs executive Timothy Dattels, a BlackBerry board member, will chair the new committee, which will also include Blackberry Chief Executive Thorsten Heins.

BlackBerry may go Private

Timothy Dattels said:

Given the importance and strength of our technology, and the evolving industry and competitive landscape, we believe that now is the right time to explore strategic alternatives.

BlackBerry pioneered on-your-hip email with its first smart phones and email pagers. But it has struggled to compete against the likes of Apple Inc and against phones using Google Inc’s Android operating system. It’s new BlackBerry 10 smartphones have failed to gain traction in a competitive market.

Reuters last week quoted sources familiar with the situation as saying BlackBerry was warming up to the possibility of going private.

Fairfax Financial Chairman and Chief Executive Prem Watsa said on Monday that he would resign from the BlackBerry board due to potential conflicts of interest. Watsa said Fairfax has “no current intention” of selling its Blackberry shares.