BlackBerry Sale: 5 Things You Need to Know

Impact
By Benjamin Cosman

BlackBerry announced Monday that it has sold itself to a consortium of investors, led by Fairfax Financial Holdings. The stock price for BlackBerry jumped a bit as news of the sale broke, but ultimately settled at $8.82 a share.

Have questions on what the sale means? We have some answers.

1. How much did BlackBerry sell for?

FairFax and its undisclosed partners bought Blackberry for $4.7 billion. At its peak, BlackBerry was valued near $80 billion.

2. I own stock in BlackBerry. How much do I make from the sale?

The $4.7 billion price tag means Fairfax will offer $9 per share for Blackberry. Prices for BBRY have ranged from $18.32 to $6.22 this year, so you could've made more money, but you could've made less, too.

3. I work for BlackBerry. What does this mean for me?

BlackBerry has been in trouble for a while. On Friday, it announced it would layoff around 40% of its workforce by the end of the year, along with a $1 billion quarterly loss. So things were looking pretty bleak for the company long before the decision to go private.

4. So who is Fairfax Financial Holdings?

I'll let Fairfax explain itself:

"Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited is a financial services holding company whose corporate objective is to achieve a high rate of return on invested capital and build long term shareholder value. The company has been under present management since September 1985."

The Canadian firm previously owned a 10% stake in BlackBerry, so it isn't a stranger to the smartphone maker. 

5. What's next for BlackBerry?

It's unclear what the future holds for the former mobile superpower. It's been on a downward trend for some time now, especially after the disaster that was the BlackBerry 10 OS and device makeover, which was supposed to save the company but ultimately resulted in a slashing of prices right out of the gate.

Still, Fairfax seems hopeful. It's CEO, Prem Watsa, said he has a "long term strategy" that will "focus on delivering superior and secure enterprise solutions to BlackBerry customers around the world." That doesn't give us any specific views of BlackBerry's future, but it sure sounds nice.