[Gunner24]

Cerberus Capital Management LP is near an agreement to jointly pursue a bid for BlackBerry Ltd. with two of the beleaguered smartphone maker�s co-founders, according to people familiar with the matter.

Cerberus is discussing a possible joint bid for BlackBerry with Mike Lazaridis and Doug Fregin, who were part of a team that co-founded the company, previously known as Research in Motion, in 1984. It is unclear whether others could join their effort.

The jockeying among possible bidders comes on the eve of a Monday deadline for BlackBerry buyout offers. The Canadian company and its advisers set the deadline to coincide with one for Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. to solidify its preliminary offer for the company. Fairfax, which owns a 10% BlackBerry stake and is led by former company director Prem Watsa, reached a tentative agreement in September to buy the company for $9 a share, or $4.7 billion.

The talks between Cerberus and Messrs. Lazaridis and Fregin underscores the seriousness of their consideration of a takeover of the company�even as such a tie-up would potentially eliminate a competitor from the sales process.

Cooperation between Cerberus and the co-founders could be mutually beneficial, in that it would give the co-founders additional financial firepower for any bid, and give Cerberus a big existing equity stake as a platform for its possible offer. Messrs. Lazaridis and Fregin, who publicly declared their exploration of a potential BlackBerry deal last month, together own about 8% of the company.

Still, the group, should it officially form, may not put in a bid for BlackBerry, the people said.

Other parties that have been considering a bid for BlackBerry include China�s Lenovo Group Ltd., people familiar with the matter have said.

BlackBerry�s stock price moves suggest investors have been skeptical that a deal will be reached at $9 a share, either with Fairfax or someone else. The stock has been trading well below that level, and at midday Friday was down 2.2% at $7.75 on the Nasdaq Stock Market�giving BlackBerry a market value of just over $4 billion.

[raino]

Can you add a link to the article, please?

[Gunner24]

I still find it odd that this "consortium" is not working with Prem... I thought they were all good friends? Maybe they will all join together on Monday? Thoughts?

[Gunner24]

Can you add a link to the article, please?

Cerberus Explores Joint Bid for BlackBerry - Wall Street Journal - WSJ.com

[Knightcrawler]

Cerberus in talks with BlackBerry co-founders on potential joint bid - The Globe and Mail

Globe and Mail also reporting the same.

I wonder what they would offer? Would they take into consideration BBM's excellent launch and massive uptake in the consumer market? What value do they put on the enterprise business, knowing Mike L is an enterprise guy and thats the likely route he's going to take.

[Gunner24]

If i was going to place a bet now, I would bet Scully is in there too, and they will combine bids with Prem - we will see though. Maybe someone like Facebook or Lenovo will take an equity stake as opposed to buying the whole company.

Posted from my Q10 on the West Coast

[br14]

Not so sure about Scully. Isn't his track record questionable?

And worth remembering that Laziridis and Watsa are supposed to be friends. It seems odd they'd work on opposing bids. Is this all part of some master plan or am I being too conspiratorial?

Given Googles current approach of locking down Android, would it make sense for Lenovo to invest in a group in return for a long term preferential licensing deal for BB10?

Either way, not a lot of time left before the dealine is reached.

[krackerjack69]

This could get interesting come Monday. Something is definitely going on that we do not know about. There were a big bucket full of shares sold by unknown person/persons on Thursday before closing. Things that make you go hmmm

[Knightcrawler]

At this point i just want a bid AT or above 9 dollars. It seems more and more likely that whoever comes forward will lower the bid. Especially since the SP keeps dropping for no reason whatsoever.

20 Million new BBM users? DROP
Continuing to get more enterprise clients? DROP
Multiple parties interested in a privatization bid? DROP
Being the only secure communications network in a world full of spies? DROP

[altrax]

20 Million new BBM users?
DROP
Continuing to get more enterprise clients? DROP
Multiple parties interested in a privatization bid?
DROP
Being the only secure communications network in a world full of spies?
DROP

Hahahahah you noticed this too eh?
The sooner BBRY goes private the better

Posted via CB10

[Just Me]

Can this consortium still bid for BlackBerry?

Let the sn?w fly.

[1REDRUM]

Of course, anyone can still bit in a "hostile" takeover


Posted via CB10

[BravoZuluDelta]

Can this consortium still bid for BlackBerry?

Let the sn?w fly.

They could, but it's less likely since BlackBerry is no longer actively seeking a buyer. The terms would have to be pretty good to be approved.

Qualcomm could throw their bajillion-dollar weight into a hostile takeover - but again, pretty unlikely.

[Peevish]

They could, but it's less likely since BlackBerry is no longer actively seeking a buyer. The terms would have to be pretty good to be approved.

Qualcomm could throw their bajillion-dollar weight into a hostile takeover - but again, pretty unlikely.

So would it be similar to the Dell situation?

Posted via CB10

[szlevi]

So would it be similar to the Dell situation?

Posted via CB10

No, if anything it's rather the opposite now.

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