Once reigning but now struggling BlackBerry Limited has reportedly signed a letter of intent (LOI) agreement under which a consortium to be led by Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited (FHL) has offered to acquire the company for $4.7 billion, subject to due diligence.
As per news report, diligence is expected to be complete by November 4, 2013 and the agreement is on a non-exclusive basis
The consortium is seeking financing from BofA Merrill Lynch and BMO Capital Markets, while J.P. Morgan and Perella Weinberg are acting as financial advisors for the transaction and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Torys LLP are acting as legal advisors.
Further, it is believed that BlackBerry Limited?s board of directors has approved the terms of the LOI. Meanwhile, BlackBerry shareholders would receive $9 in cash for each share they hold and the consortium would acquire for cash all of the outstanding shares of BlackBerry not held by Fairfax. Fairfax intends to pool in the shares of BlackBerry it currently holds (approximately 10 per cent) into the transaction.
