Sale of BlackBerry crumbles

BlackBerry has abandoned plans to sell itself, after a months-long sale process failed to secure a solid bidder, reports Dow Jones Newswire. Instead, the Canadian device maker announced a new investment from a group led by its largest individual shareholder Fairfax, involving a placement of convertible debentures worth USD1 billion to the investors, including USD250 million to Fairfax alone. If all debentures are converted, the placement would represent 16% of the company’s total common shares. BlackBerry also announced the departure of CEO Thorsten Heins. A consortium led by Fairfax made a USD4.7 billion offer to take BlackBerry private last September.