BlackBerry Gets $1B to Drop Sale Search, CEO Resigns

BlackBerry revealed Monday that its current CEO will step down, and the company will abandon attempts to sell its struggling smartphone business following a $1 billion investment from Fairfax Financial.

BlackBerry revealed the latest twist in its ongoing efforts to right the company in a statement Monday. The company said that the latest moves are the conclusion of the strategic review put into motion on August 12. (See Selling BlackBerry: The Options.)

BlackBerry will receive a $1 billion investment from Fairfax Financial Holdings and other investors. Fairfax originally struck a deal to buy BlackBerry for $4.7 billion in September. (See BlackBerry Inks Deal to Go Private.)

Since that time, however, BlackBerry has reputedly been looking at other potential suitors to acquire all or part of its business. (See Cisco Named as Possible BlackBerry Suitor.)

This will all end under the terms of this latest Fairfax deal. Once the agreement closes, current CEO Thorsten Heins will step down as CEO and resign from the BlackBerry board. In the interim, his role would be taken on by John Chen, formerly CEO of Sybase Inc.

Closing the deal is still subject to conditions, including the approval of the Toronto Stock Exchange.

— Dan Jones, Mobile Editor, Light Reading