market, today announced that the Company's Board of Directors has
formed a Special Committee to explore strategic alternatives to
enhancevalue and increase scale in order to accelerate BlackBerry 10
deployment. These alternatives could include, among others, possible
joint ventures, strategic partnerships or alliances,a sale of the
Companyor other possible transactions.
The Special Committee of the Board is comprised of Barbara Stymiest,
Thorsten Heins, Richard Lynch and Bert Nordberg, and will be chaired
by Timothy Dattels.
With the announcement of the Special Committee, Prem Watsa, Chairman
and CEO of Fairfax Financial informed the Company that he felt it was
appropriate to resign due to potential conflicts that may arise during
the process. Fairfax Financial is the largest BlackBerry shareholder.
Mr. Watsa said, "I continue to be a strong supporter of theCompany,
the Board and Management as they move forward during this process, and
Fairfax Financial has no current intention of selling its shares."
"During the past year, management and the Board have been focused on
launching the BlackBerry 10 platform and BES 10, establishing a strong
financial position, and evaluating the best approach to delivering
long-term value for customers and shareholders," said Timothy Dattels,
Chairman of BlackBerry's Special Committee of the Board. "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."
Thorsten Heins, President and Chief Executive Officer of BlackBerry,
added, "We continue to see compelling long-term opportunities for
BlackBerry 10, we have exceptional technology that customers are
embracing, we have a strong balance sheet and we are pleased with
theprogress that has been made in our transition. As the Special
Committee focuses on exploring alternatives, we will be continuing
with our strategy of reducing cost, driving efficiency and
accelerating the deployment of BES 10, as well as driving adoption of
BlackBerry 10 smartphones, launching the multi-platform BBM social
messaging service, and pursuing mobile computing opportunities by
leveraging the secure and reliable BlackBerry Global Data Network."
JP Morgan Securities LLC is serving as financial advisor to BlackBerry
and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Torys LLP are serving
as legal advisors.
There can be no assurance that this exploration process will result in
any transaction. The Company does not currently intend to disclose
further developments with respect to this process, unless and until
its Board of Directors approves a specific transaction or otherwise
concludes the review of strategic alternatives.
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