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The situation is worse than it looks. Unmentioned in this article is that Fairfax already owns 10% of Blackberry and is the company's largest shareholder. Cana

The situation is worse than it looks. Unmentioned in this article is that Fairfax already owns 10% of Blackberry and is the company's largest shareholder. Canadian papers have circulated rumors the offer was intended to set a baseline price they hoped would be overbid. Which makes sense -- if Fairfax was serious about increasing its ownership it has an interest in reducing the price, or could look to purchase a controlling interest rather than the whole company.

corresation 13y ago
Canadian papers have circulated rumors Which papers? I've seen no such rumors. You don't flippantly make $5 billion dollar bids -- the problem Fairfax encountered was that in such a deal they need some banks to sidle up with them, and few (or no) banks wanted to. Also, Fairfax wanted to take the company private. You can't do that secretly or incrementally. It is an all-out endeavor, exactly as they attempted. I believe their bid was sincere.
- robk 13y ago
  To be fair, you don't make a $5B bid without having the capital lined up. It felt really scummy to have them bid up like that then include those egregious breakup fees if BB found a higher bidder.
- trevelyan 13y ago
  I think it was the Globe.