BlackBerry announces $4.7 billion buyout plan from Fairfax Financial

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BlackBerry’s fate is coming into focus. The company announced on Monday that it has signed a letter of intent with a consortium led by Fairfax Financial to buy out the company for about $4.7 billion, or $9 per share. Fairfax CEO Prem Watsa, a former BlackBerry board member, said that the buyout would make BlackBerry a private company and would “open an exciting new private chapter for BlackBerry, its customers, carriers and employees.” BlackBerry says it expects Fairfax to finish conducting its due diligence by November 4th. Even though the deal is non-binding at this point, BlackBerry will still have to pay Fairfax a fee of $0.30 per share if the deal doesn’t happen. BlackBerry shares jumped about 3% on on the news.