After years of speculation, the struggling smartphone maker BlackBerry finally made it official Monday: The For Sale sign is going up.

In a statement, the Waterloo-based company said it is exploring all financial options including a sale as well as possible joint ventures, strategic partnerships or alliances.

“This is an SOS. It’s basically, save or sell,” says Queen’s University School of Business professor John-Kurt Pliniussen. “It is no longer business as usual — it is in a six-month period of transition.”

Timothy Dattels, a senior partner at TPG Capital, one of the world’s largest private equity firms, will lead a special committee that includes CEO Thorsten Heins, board chair Barbara Stymiest, Richard Lynch and Bert Nordberg to look at alternatives.

Toronto billionaire Prem Watsa, whose Fairfax Financial Holdings is BlackBerry’s largest shareholder, resigned his seat on the board of directors, citing “potential conflicts” that may arise during the process.

“I continue to be a strong supporter of the company, the board and management as they move forward during this process, and Fairfax Financial has no current intention of selling its shares,” the statement added.

Shares of BlackBerry rose on the news, jumping more than 10 per cent, to close at $11.12 in Toronto.

Analysts say BlackBerry could certainly be a target for tech companies as varied as rival Samsung, Amazon or Facebook. Sale prices could range from $10.50 to $15 a share.

In recent years, BlackBerry which invented getting email on a phone has struggled to compete with the likes of Apple’s iPhone and Samsung’s Galaxy. Other companies are also developing new devices such as Google’s Moto X.

Chinese companies like computer maker Lenovo or telecom giant Huawei are mentioned as possible bidders, but they would likely face opposition from Ottawa over national security concerns, given BlackBerry’s strength is its highly sensitive encryption systems.

Bloomberg Industries senior telecom industry John Butler believes the BlackBerry’s move signals sales of new devices — the long-awaited Z10 and Q10 phones that use the operating system BB10 — aren’t hitting targets.

Last week, IDC, a company that tracks technology sales, put BlackBerry’s worldwide market share at 2.9 per cent, in fourth place behind Windows Phone.

“Frankly, I think the most likely scenario is that they go private. Outside, of Chinese vendors, I don’t know who would have a strong interest in buying them,” Butler said.

“It would take that public company pressure off of them,” he said, noting the company is sitting on more than $3 billion in cash.

Reuters reported last week that the company is looking at going private. It has previously held discussions with private equity firm Silver Lake Partners about potential collaboration in enterprise computing. Silver Lake has been involved in Michael Dell’s attempt to take his old computer company private.

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board’s CEO Mark Wiseman also told Bloomberg News last Friday that he would consider an investment in BlackBerry if the smartphone maker decided to go private.

Bill Kreher, an analyst with Edward Jones in St. Louis, said the proposed Dell deal shows private equity firms are interested in getting involved in troubled companies in the tech sector.

However, Kreher noted this isn’t the first time BlackBerry has weighed its options. A year ago, it hired JP Morgan and RBC Capital Markets to advise on strategic alternatives.

At the time, Heins said a sale wasn’t the “main direction” he was considering. Prospects have worsened since then, with the new BlackBerry 10 — the linchpin of its turnaround strategy — meeting scant demand.

“The price of BlackBerry would garner for itself is lower today, than just a year ago,” Kreher said. “There’s no assurance that any transaction will ultimately occur.”

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Carmi Levy, an independent technology analyst, believes BlackBerry has no other choice but to look at a sale, joint venture or alliance or mix of those.

“If BlackBerry could survive in its current form, we wouldn’t be seeing these actions right now,” Levy said. “Radical change is called for.”

“Doing it now maximizes value and minimizes the potential for further erosion, while the company considers its options.”

Levy argues BlackBerry could be much more than a handset maker, given its BB10 platform is state-of-the-art technology that has potential application in everything from medicine to industrial automation.

“It’s not enough to have the best technology. You have to have a way to connect the technology to markets to drive business,” he said.

The worst-case scenario would be a breakup of the company for parts, selling off different divisions, he said.

But Levy doesn’t believe that’s what anyone wants to see especially CEO Heins, who took over from co-CEOs Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis in 2012.

“Thorsten Heins did not take this job in order to preside over a funeral,” Levy said.

The best-case scenario is some form of partnership or some form of joint venture that would bring in the resources that BlackBerry needs to expand, or figure out a way to leverage its existing technology, he added.

Queen’s University’s Pliniussen says BlackBerry needs “world class leaders” such as those at the helms of Yahoo and Apple, who can build a global demand for Blackberry phones.

Better apps, “cool” packaging and outreach to new, young consumers are needed, says Pliniussen, adding that the only word of praise he’s ever heard is that people “like the keyboard.”

“That’s not enough,” he said.

With files from Star’s wire services

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