BlackBerry Creates “Special Committee”, Will Consider Sale
Looks like the rumours from last week were true about BlackBerry potentially going up for sale. The company has announced this morning that the Board of Directors have created a ‘Special Committee’ to “explore strategic alternatives” that could include ‘possible joint ventures, strategic partnerships or alliances, a sale of the Company or other possible transactions.”
According to the press release the Special Committee will be chaired by Timothy Dattels, plus include Barbara Stymiest, Thorsten Heins, Richard Lynch and Bert Nordberg. Leading the “Exploration of Strategic Alternatives” process will be JP Morgan Securities as its financial advisor, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Torys LLP are serving legal advisors.
Timothy Dattels, Chairman of BlackBerry’s Special Committee of the Board, stated “Given the importance and strength of our technology, and the evolving industry and competitive landscape, we believe that now is the right time to explore strategic alternatives.”
This isn’t the first time we’ve heard of BlackBerry investigating its options in an increasingly-competitive smartphone market — in early 2012, the company reportedly hired Goldman Sachs to evaluate its options, and last June the company was reportedly investigating the selloff of its handset business.
Of course, a lot has happened since last year — BlackBerry 10 finally launched in 2013, but so far the new OS hasn’t stopped the bleeding for the formerly-dominant company.
[Via]
