[jaylysf]

What would the conflict be?

JayZ10

[notfanboy]

In his role with the board, he looked after the interest of Blackberry the company .

In his role with FFH, he looks after the interests of FFH investors and shareholders.

These interests are now in potential conflict.

[jaylysf]

Hmm so a deal must be pretty close then or else they'd talk a little more...

JayZ10

[bobshine]

If he remained on the board, he would had represented shareholders of both companies, so the two side of possible transaction. Not sure if it means a deal is near.... but it would mean that a certain type of deal might be seriously considered (privatisation)

Posted via CB10

[itsnotaboutart]

As long as Fairfax is considering making an offer for BlackBerry, it is a conflict even if the BlackBerry Board is only at the stage of listening to offers or negotiating with potential purchasers who are not Fairfax. If Watsa remained a board member, he would be privy to confidential information (such as how much others are offeing or if there is even any other potential offers out there), that he could take advantage of in any offer by Fairfax.

Posted via CB10

[jaylysf]

If he's not allowed to have privy info even while talking, it means they're only started the conversation now then.

That means those articles that say they're trying to sell themselves since last year are false.

If you think about it, if you have a brand new OS, new ways to manage BYOD of Android and iPhone, BBM going cross platform, BBM Channel, would you sell the company before they're launched?

Actually you would want to go private. You'd want to make loads of money then go public and sell your shares.

You'd only sell the company when all your products are launched and maximised your profit to get the highest price possible.

Or as the media puts it so far the company is in so much troubled that it has to sell itself...but it's not in debt it's not losing much money, profitable the quarter before, a few cents loss last quarter if you include Venezuela. So they're not doing bad as in BAD.

The US Department of defense are planning to use their MDM software to manage Android and iPhone and purchase 30k phones.

So what's the deal? How is this company going away. It could abandon phones altogether fire everyone who doesn't support MDM, BBM, QNX and they'll probably have the highest profit margin around.

I honestly don't understand what's really going on.

JayZ10

[sparkaction]

People leave boards and companies for various reasons. The real reason is often masked by a generic statement such as "personal reasons". It could be possible that this transition for BlackBerry is not going well bringing into question his business acumen. This is a tuff spot to be in when you are the CEO of FFH, a money management company.

The decision may have nothing to do with a buyout as this is what the consensus believes at the moment. There is also nothing supporting a buy out or going private move.

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

I honestly don't understand what's really going on.

JayZ10

You touched on four or five different news "reports" and pulled out the most positive interpretation from each. Maybe that is why you don't understand what is going on.



Posted via CB10

[itsnotaboutart]

If he's not allowed to have privy info even while talking, it means they're only started the conversation now then.

It could also mean Fairfax's intentions have changed. Perhaps it only recently decided to seriously consider a move to take BlackBerry private. There would not have been a conflict before if Fairfax was content to be only a seller, not a potential buyer.

Posted via CB10

[njblackberry]

I think it would still be a conflict even if FFH was just selling - whose best interest would be server, FFH, BBRY or the stockholders. He had to resign.

[timmy t]

At the rate they are losing money, they will be broke in over 30 years.

[Troy Tiscareno]

At the rate they are losing money, they will be broke in over 30 years.

You aren't looking at the whole picture. Last Q, BB received a half billion dollar tax return as credits for doing Canadian R&D. They only get that money once a year. Without that return last Q, their losses would have been substantial. Also, BB aggressively collected their Accounts Receivable, but intentionally delayed paying their Accounts Payable. Doing so will temporarily leave BB holding some extra cash, just as you would if you rented a house with 5 other people, and you had collected their share of the rent, put it in your bank account, but hadn't yet paid the landlord. It's an accounting trick.

This Q's numbers are going to tell something much closer to the real story. There will be no R&D credit this Q, and it will be increasingly difficult to keep a "float" of Accounts Payable.

A company the size of BB, with 17,000 employees (huge payroll overhead), big costs for R&D, manufacturing, testing, and support, and most importantly, advertising, spends a massive amount of money each month just to stay alive. It is a huge money-eating monster that has to be continually fed. And all that is fine if your products are selling and making a healthy profit, but when they aren't, you can start burning through cash-on-hand at an amazing rate.

Don't think that isn't the biggest reason BB announced this "strategic review" right now, without even waiting for this Q's numbers. They can see the trend, and it clearly isn't positive. If it was, there would be no reason for them to "review" anything; it would be a sign that their plan was working. Anyone who understands business and finance has no trouble figuring this out from recent events; the legalese of the press release isn't new to the industry or at all difficult to decipher.

[itsnotaboutart]

Also, BB aggressively collected their Accounts Receivable, but intentionally delayed paying their Accounts Payable.

Not sure what you are talking about. I just looked at the financial statements from last quarter. BlackBerry's accounts receivables were more than its accounts payable, and both were in the same range as last year.

Posted via CB10

[njblackberry]

A/P was higher than the previous quarter. That's a great accounting trick for making the books look better. Gotta save that $3.1bn.

Research In Motion Ltd (BBRY) Accounts Payable Unsustainable: CS

Don't Be Fooled by Blackberry's Cheap Valuation - BBRY, GOOG, MSFT - Foolish Blogging Network

[THBW]

Not sure what you are talking about. I just looked at the financial statements from last quarter. BlackBerry's accounts receivables were more than its accounts payable, and both were in the same range as last year.

Posted via CB10

^^^^^^This^^^^^^^

[Wiki Cydia]

The conflict is the result of a possible sale. As a board member, Watsa would be privy to all offers made for BBRY. This would allow him to bid on BBRY through Fairfax while knowing exactly what all others are bidding, which would be a huge advantage for Fairfax and a huge disadvantage for BBRY.