1. kfh227's Avatar
    I've seen this reported a few times. As a member of gurufocus.com I can actual get his history fairly easily. I might write up an article at gurufocus so I'll keep it brief and link the article later.

    When Prem started buying, he only had to report at the end of each quarter. You don't know what he paid each quarter. But you do know the possible range of prices he paid.

    Eventually, Prem had so much stock that he had to start reporting things as they happened so we know the actual price he paid.

    Prem bought 48% of his BBRY stock at $7.35. 27% of it was bought for $16.26. We know what he paid for 75% of his holdings. This is huge.

    The 25% of his holdings that remain were bought in quarters where we don't know the exact amount. We only know possible ranges. Based on all the available information, his cost basis is in the range of $13.87 to $19.21.

    I'll give details in an article in the next few days.
    GTiLeo likes this.
    03-07-13 09:39 PM
  2. howarmat's Avatar
    i think he was around $17 at the end of the year. But no clue what he has added since then
    03-07-13 10:12 PM
  3. BBNation's Avatar
    He can not add anymore due to some ownership rule, he owns the max over 9% per cdn law otherwise he would have killed shorts by now. makes sense otherwise somoene like google/apple buy all shares and kills it
    03-08-13 12:37 AM
  4. Dapper37's Avatar
    His original purchases were the highest, posibly as high as 30 to 40. His more recent being the lowest and largest, in say the 7-8 range. Rough est. I believe he bough in 3 trading/price ranges
    03-08-13 01:19 AM
  5. OMGitworks's Avatar
    Here is what I posted in January upon a QUICK review of his filings. Good luck I am sure you will be more thorough and accurate. I will be interested in you better and more accurate analysis. Thanks:

    Not true at all as far as his early purchases. Based on his own Quarterly filings, his first 2.1 M shares were bought between $40-60 and his next 6.3M shares were bought at between $30-50. No real way to know when in each quarter he bought so that is the reason for the rough range. he also bought another 4.2M between $20-30 and 12 million somewhere between $15-18 roughly today's price. his last 26M were 6-8. If you average it out, he is probably up now.

    My original response was to a post that Watsa "knows the right time to invest." He does, in general, and is very successful, but clearly he was way too early on RIMM. At one point before he second double down he was out $400-500M, now i looks like he might be up $50M or so. Not chump change that is for sure.
    03-08-13 07:48 AM
  6. kfh227's Avatar
    i think he was around $17 at the end of the year. But no clue what he has added since then
    Unless he or Fairfax stated an actual number, we only have a possible range. But $17 is approximately right.

    The $17 includes everything. His last buy doubled his position at around $7/share. Without that buy, his basis would be way north of $20.
    03-08-13 10:58 AM
  7. kfh227's Avatar
    OMG,

    The absolute lowest price he could have paid on average is $13.87. He is currently in the red.
    TRlPPlN likes this.
    03-08-13 11:00 AM
  8. howarmat's Avatar
    When omg posted that is was probably around 17-18 range

    And yes the 17 was figured in an article from Forbes or seeking alpha perhaps
    03-08-13 11:10 AM
  9. OMGitworks's Avatar
    When omg posted that is was probably around 17-18 range

    And yes the 17 was figured in an article from Forbes or seeking alpha perhaps
    That is true, sorry for cutting and pasting the old post I had back in January....
    03-08-13 11:28 AM
  10. mikeycollins13's Avatar
    Hey I got a lower cost basis than he does.
    Yeah!
    Shanerredflag likes this.
    03-08-13 01:40 PM
  11. Kid Vibe's Avatar
    Damn, he has some big hopes for BB if he bought millions at 17ish.
    03-08-13 05:39 PM
  12. the_sleuth's Avatar
    Earnings will be release on Thursday March 28th:

    BlackBerry to Announce Year-End and Fourth Quarter Fiscal 2013 Results on Thursday, March 28th, 2013 - Yahoo! Finance

    Here is my back of napkin calculations:
    Attached Thumbnails Prem Watsa's cost basis-calc.gif  
    03-10-13 11:40 AM
  13. howarmat's Avatar
    03-11-13 07:32 PM
  14. kfh227's Avatar
    Ya, I did more reading and one of his older shareholder letters said this. But I guess he reiterated this year too ;-)
    03-11-13 11:47 PM
  15. fedakd's Avatar
    I think you've significantly understated BB7 sales. Q4 seasonally sees the highest number of shipped devices, Q42012 had ~11M devices shipped. Not saying it will be close to that, but BlackBerry did launch BB7 in some VERY important markets for the holiday season, just in time for Q4. Namely, Indonesia, Mexico, and India...

    7-8M BB7 devices is a much more realistic number. Also, BlackBerry does not record the number of sold units (sell-through) on its income statement, only the number of devices shipped (sell-in). This number is substantially higher. Look for at least 2M. With your revised estimates, I think you might be surprised at your EPS value ;-)

    PS - the ASP for your BB7 sales is high

    Earnings will be release on Thursday March 28th:

    BlackBerry to Announce Year-End and Fourth Quarter Fiscal 2013 Results on Thursday, March 28th, 2013 - Yahoo! Finance

    Here is my back of napkin calculations:
    03-12-13 12:20 AM
  16. Marc_Paradise's Avatar
    The 25% of his holdings that remain were bought in quarters where we don't know the exact amount. We only know possible ranges. Based on all the available information, his cost basis is in the range of $13.87 to $19.21.
    Now we have the answer - you were pretty close

    And, at long last, answered:
    We own approximately 10% of the company at an average cost of
    $17 per share and we are excited about its prospects under Thorsten’s leadership and Mike’s technical genius.

    Source: http://www.fairfax.ca/files/Letter%2...001_o7033s.pdf
    03-12-13 09:08 AM

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