[SK122387]

I believe this is what's happening. I think there is already a plan in place to take BB private and Prem had to leave the board to kick it off.

There's no way they'd be planning to wrap up a deal within the next 90 days if they didn't already have a plan in place.

I want to believe you so badly, I think I'm just going to. It will help me sleep better tonight. Thanks.

[bradu1]

I believe this is what's happening. I think there is already a plan in place to take BB private and Prem had to leave the board to kick it off.

There's no way they'd be planning to wrap up a deal within the next 90 days if they didn't already have a plan in place.

That's what I'm thinking too. If it is, then the puzzle pieces slide neatly in to place don't they?

Posted via CB10

[Dave Bourque]

I believe this is what's happening. I think there is already a plan in place to take BB private and Prem had to leave the board to kick it off.

There's no way they'd be planning to wrap up a deal within the next 90 days if they didn't already have a plan in place.

Voice of reason!!! I hope the crackberry team takes note. I think this is most likely! BlackBerry being sold and dead headlines are gonna be finally over and BlackBerry can return and focus on their products instead of this sale bull****.

Posted via CB10

[bradu1]

Voice of reason!!! I hope the crackberry team takes note. I think this is most likely! BlackBerry being sold and dead headlines are gonna be finally over and BlackBerry can return and focus on their products instead of this sale bull****.

Posted via CB10

Hey Dave, you've been a pretty vocal proponent of BB10 in the threads, join us on the Twitter front? #IchooseBlackberry10
I know you can come up with a bunch of reasons....

Now, did anyone see where Zten went? I know he's got a little list somewhere....

Posted via CB10

[BravoZuluDelta]

This. BlackBerry needs to recruit from silicone Valley. Taking the company private won't help if they don't have top tier talent (on all fronts, marketing, hardware design, UI design, etc).

Sent from my galaxy S4 using Tapatalk

Waterloo talent is top-notch as far as software and hardware goes, but they are sorely lacking in marketing skills. Maybe it's the artsies getting back at engineers for all the drunken teasing about their career prospects.

Posted via CB10 on Q10

[kevinnugent]

Just because Watsa is taking them private, don't expect him to dither on profitability. He could still very well gut the joint for cash once he's privatised it. He'll do whatever makes him the most money - and making Blackberry phones may be last on that list.

All I'm saying is sometimes a "white knight" is not all it's meant to be, so be cautious.

[Dave Bourque]

Hey Dave, you've been a pretty vocal proponent of BB10 in the threads, join us on the Twitter front? #IchooseBlackberry10
I know you can come up with a bunch of reasons....

Now, did anyone see where Zten went? I know he's got a little list somewhere....

Posted via CB10

I'm off to bed first I'll write stuff tomorrow lol

Posted via CB10

[epyon52328]

Going private would be go for no other reason than BlackBerry won't have to publish earning ever quarter and I won't have to read about BlackBerry's fall from grace and demise on a regular basis anymore.

Posted via CB10

[birdman_38]

One thing is for certain. Mr. Watsa is not doing it to be a good guy. He's doing it to make money.

[jojo beaconsfield]

Don't forget,prem got into Rim at about the $55.00 range.He believes in the company and ,oh what an ego.He seems really stubborn and believes BB is going to take 3to5 years to come around.go private and let him right the wrongs that have occurred since the launch of the new OS.Don't forget he is the Chancellor of Waterloo University,does it get any better than that?

[m1a1mg]

Just because Watsa is taking them private, don't expect him to dither on profitability. He could still very well gut the joint for cash once he's privatised it. He'll do whatever makes him the most money - and making Blackberry phones may be last on that list.

All I'm saying is sometimes a "white knight" is not all it's meant to be, so be cautious.

This. Prem answers to his shareholders at Fairfax. He's already thrown a bunch of money at BBRY, and now he's going to buy the whole thing? Crazy. Shrewd businessmen do not become swayed by emotional decisions. My bet, he's going to try to recover what he can after BBOS10 failed.

[tlegend2012]

well here is something interesting to share.


Cookies must be enabled. | The Australian


Fairfax�s Watsa closing in on Blackberry purchase: report - Livemint

I'll def. take better than anything..

[jojo beaconsfield]

This great company is going to stay Canadian,thanks to Prem,All those who tried to destroy the true value of BB with their bashing in the media will not succeed.If they want it, they whoever they are ,will have to pay a fair price,including Prem.I,m feeling better today,can't wait to hear from that guy Thor and how he will react.All he has to do is open his mouth and you know what will happen.I really think he is a sleeper,if you know what I mean .GO CANADA GO!!!

[Kriilin Namek]

I'm not surprised, if you search my user name you'll see I've been calling this move for weeks. My guess Lazardis is in on this too, he never did sell his shares. And the thing about BB going private in this fashion is it won't be subject to the Investment Canada act, so no government intervention. It's also politically the best thing for the Feds to have happen, the MP for the area is part of the current government: Peter Braid

[LopeZ10]

Really old news. Let me check again Blackberry Share Price: Canadian Tycoon Nears Rescue Deal for Phone Maker

[LuvULongTime]

Just because Watsa is taking them private, don't expect him to dither on profitability. He could still very well gut the joint for cash once he's privatised it. He'll do whatever makes him the most money - and making Blackberry phones may be last on that list.

All I'm saying is sometimes a "white knight" is not all it's meant to be, so be cautious.

This makes no sense to me. If BBRY can't sell itself now piece by piece (assuming no one company wants the whole thing), then what makes you think Watsa taking them private is going to have any better luck doing the exact same thing 2 months after going private? Watsa wants to make his money back, and selling the company for scraps is not the way to do it. Whether he likes it or not, he is no long on BBRY, and he better hope that BB10 really picks up otherwise he's going to have another Canwest on his hands.

This. Prem answers to his shareholders at Fairfax. He's already thrown a bunch of money at BBRY, and now he's going to buy the whole thing? Crazy. Shrewd businessmen do not become swayed by emotional decisions. My bet, he's going to try to recover what he can after BBOS10 failed.

I do not think Fairfax is going to own BBRY outright. I can see them increasing their stake in the company by another 5%-10%. This privatization will consist of numerous pension funds and other financial institutions with money to capitalize BBRY and help spread BB10.

The smartphone race is more a game of attrition. Whoever has deep enough pockets will be able to leverage said pockets to stick around long enough for their platform to gain traction in a market where Android and iOS are already firmly entrenched. Look at Windows phone. MS is keeping at it, and their results are starting to pay dividends.

[m1a1mg]

The smartphone race is more a game of attrition. Whoever has deep enough pockets will be able to leverage said pockets to stick around long enough for their platform to gain traction in a market where Android and iOS are already firmly entrenched. Look at Windows phone. MS is keeping at it, and their results are starting to pay dividends.

If Prem takes it private, he'd be competing in the smartphone market vs Google, Apple, and M$. Each of those companies has a stockpile of cash to bury BBRY. Best to drop the hardware and become a services company.

[hf199]

Best news for us BB users and the future of Blackberry!

[kupfernigk]

If BlackBerry goes, there is not a single mobile phone operating system left that is not controlled by companies in the USA, and so must be assumed to be completely security compromised by the rest of the world. It's hard to believe that the NSA does not see BES as a threat to their snooping, and perhaps only a slightly tinfoil hat approach to suspect that much of the badmouthing and negativism about them, which seems to come from the US, is part of a plan to either shut them down or to engineer a sale that will put them under US control.
Now we have claims that the NSA has cracked BES, another spoiler.
If any country is a safe haven for a secure phone operating system, Canada must be it, with Germany perhaps a close second. Canada has no real external enemies, and, unlike say Australia, isn't Chinese owned.
Personally I am very law abiding, but I strongly disapprove of what the NSA and our own dear GCHQ are doing. It is not good to think that the reported 800000 people in the US with access to sensitive data might, for instance, be reading bank emails and using the data privately to make themselves rich. Yet this is an obvious possibility; the idea that the NSA and GCHQ are themelves secure is ludicrous, as Edward Snowden has just demonstrated.
BlackBerry needs to survive and to focus on secure communication, even if it is only available to corporations, charities and NGOs. It's a matter of giving us some protection against the surveillance State - exactly what the US claimed to be working for in the Cold War. That means having end to end control of software and hardware.

[LopeZ10]

This makes no sense to me. If BBRY can't sell itself now piece by piece (assuming no one company wants the whole thing), then what makes you think Watsa taking them private is going to have any better luck doing the exact same thing 2 months after going private? Watsa wants to make his money back, and selling the company for scraps is not the way to do it. Whether he likes it or not, he is no long on BBRY, and he better hope that BB10 really picks up otherwise he's going to have another Canwest on his hands.



I do not think Fairfax is going to own BBRY outright. I can see them increasing their stake in the company by another 5%-10%. This privatization will consist of numerous pension funds and other financial institutions with money to capitalize BBRY and help spread BB10.

The smartphone race is more a game of attrition. Whoever has deep enough pockets will be able to leverage said pockets to stick around long enough for their platform to gain traction in a market where Android and iOS are already firmly entrenched. Look at Windows phone. MS is keeping at it, and their results are starting to pay dividends.

Did you read the articles on the websites?

[kupfernigk]

If Prem takes it private, he'd be competing in the smartphone market vs Google, Apple, and M$. Each of those companies has a stockpile of cash to bury BBRY. Best to drop the hardware and become a services company.

I don't agree.
If you have a global market of a billion phones a year - and we are getting that way - even one percent of that market is ten million, and if you are in a niche that one percent wants, you can prosper. Look at the Morgan car company, who are in competition with sports cars from just about every major manufacturer.
BlackBerry need to decide what they are really good at, and stick to it. My thinking is that their core offering should be reliable, secure communications. As I note below, to do that they need end to end control. Dropping the hardware means you are always vulnerable to key loggers and the like built in as firmware, or even microcode, backdoors.

[world traveler and former ceo]

Great news for BlackBerry and blackberry users!!!

Posted via CB10

[STV0726]

I'd cut some of my own skin off for this to be true.

Please be true.

Okay I'm being dramatic but...no actually I'm serious. I'd cut 10 BB symbols into my own arm for this to be true.

-STV on Z10STL100-3/10.1.0.4780 TMO US

[Chicago777Guy]

Great news if the price is right...When you are being bought out by one of the greatest investors I would not count on a windfall here.

Posted via CB10

[ghundiraj]

If Prem takes it private, he'd be competing in the smartphone market vs Google, Apple, and M$. Each of those companies has a stockpile of cash to bury BBRY. Best to drop the hardware and become a services company.

CPP Investment Board - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - Assets? - $183 Billion
Google - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - Assets? - $93.80 Billion
Microsoft - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - Assets? - $142.43 Billion

Just sayin....