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BlackBerry bought by Fairfax Financial for $4.7bn

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Company sold for $4.7bn to a consortium led by Fairfax Financial, with shareholders receiving $9 cash per share.

It has been no secret that BlackBerry has been looking for a buyer recently and the troubled company may have found a suitor. Shortly after halting trading on Friday and laying off 4,500 employees, the company has signed a letter of intent with Toronto-based Fairfax Financial. 

The agreement would transfer ownership of the company to a consortium led by Fairfax in exchange for $9 cash per share, totaling $4.7 billion for the entire sale. Fairfax already owns 10% of BlackBerry but plans on purchasing the rest of the shares to ensure complete control. It is so far unclear what other parties are included within the consortium, but focus is expected to shift towards servicing enterprise customers and businesses. 

The sale is still subject to 6 weeks of due diligence followed by the usual regulatory approval, meaning that the transaction likely won't be finalized anytime soon. In any case, BlackBerry does have an exit clause if they were to find a more suitable buyer, but per the current agreement, they would be forced to pay Fairfax $0.30 per share as a termination fee. 

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Omar Qudsi, 2013-09-23 (Update: 2013-09-23)