BlackBerry has been going down the drain pipe for a long, long time. But, yesterday’s announcement that it might exit from the consumer market and lay off more than 4500 workers was definitely the last straw. The company, even after getting BBM to Android and putting out exciting offerings such as the Z30 smartphone is sinking like a stone. So, the best course in the current situation is to sell it off to someone who would make something of it. But in this soup, an unlikely suitor the buyout has come out, as indicated by the New York Times – former CEO and co-founder Mike Lazaridis.
Lazaridis, who is the major shareholder has approached the Black Stone group and Carlyle about putting together an offer to take the company private. These are not full bids as of now and might transform into an offer.
It has to be noted that Lazaridis is the man held responsible for BlackBerry’s doom in the past and in his reign, BlackBerry started falling to never get back again. He had also rejected offers when BlackBerry was actually at a better footing and could demand a premium.
No one knows what to expect if this deal actualizes. Maybe it will be the second tragic deal after what we saw happening to Nokia. We still hope for the best and have our fingers crossed.
