BlackBerry Gets a $4.7 Billion Buyout Offer

BlackBerry has found a buyer for its much-diminished business. The foundering smartphone pioneer said on Monday that it had agreed to be acquired by a consortium led by Fairfax Financial Holdings, which hopes to take it private in a deal worth about $4.7 billion.

Under the terms of the deal, the consortium — whose other members were not disclosed — will pay $9 per share for all outstanding shares of BlackBerry not held by Fairfax, which currently owns a 10 percent stake in the company.

Due diligence on the deal is expected to be completed by Nov. 4, while the consortium arranges financing from BofA Merrill Lynch and BMO Capital Markets. BlackBerry’s board has approved the deal, and the company has signed a letter of intent (Caveat: a letter of intent is not a binding deal).

“We believe this transaction will open an exciting new private chapter for BlackBerry, its customers, carriers and employees,” Fairfax Chairman and CEO Prem Watsa said in a statement. “We can deliver immediate value to shareholders, while we continue the execution of a long-term strategy in a private company with a focus on delivering superior and secure enterprise solutions to BlackBerry customers around the world.”

News of the consortium’s bid for BlackBerry comes on the heels of the company’s preannouncement of a gruesome shortfall in second-fiscal-quarter earnings and plans to sack 4,500 employees as part of a massive restructuring intended to reduce expenditures by 50 percent by 2015.

At $8.99, BlackBerry shares are trading up three percent on the news.

Hard to fathom that BlackBerry was once an $83 billion company. But, back in 2008, it was.

Here’s the announcement in full: