BlackBerry drops the plan to go private

Despite earlier announcements that BlackBerry would be bought out for a price of 4.7 billion dollars by a consortium led by Fairfax Financial, the Canadian OEM has announced that the deal will not be going ahead after all.

In surprise news that likely dismayed many stock owners looking to cash out, BlackBerry announced that it was accepting a 1 billion dollar investment from Fairfax and other investors and would continue to produce smartphones aimed at general consumers instead of focusing exclusively on enterprise solutions.

CEO Thorstein Heins will also be stepping down and John Chen will be taking his place as part of another round of restructuring. Stock prices were hit hard by the news, with shares dropping 16.4 percent. Despite the numerous setbacks, the new CEO seems optimistic about the company's future and insisted that there was a bright future ahead for consumer BlackBerry smartphones. He was also quoted as saying “I think we’re going to build tremendous value for shareholders.”

The Z30, the latest BB handset, may have been a step in the right direction, but Mr. Chen will need a lot more than that to make good on his claims.

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