Blackberry shares crumble in pre-market as Fairfax deal collapses
Shares in tech giant Blackberry are down nearly by nearly a fifth in pre-market trading as the smartphone maker has announced that an offer of purchase from a Fairfax-led consortium is off, along with the departure of its chief executive Thorsten Heins.
Now Blackberry will raise around $1bn (£630m) from institutional investors and former Sybase AG boss John Chen will take over at the company.
Blackberry chairman, Barbara Stymiest:
The BlackBerry board conducted a thorough review of strategic alternatives and pursued the course of action that it concluded is in the best interests of BlackBerry and its constituents, including its shareholders.
This financing provides an immediate cash injection on terms favorable to BlackBerry, enhancing our substantial cash position.
Fairfax had until today to make a more substantive offer for the smartphone company.