To call the reaction to BlackBerry Ltd.’s (NASDAQ: BBRY) admission that it exploring strategic alternatives “muted” is probably to understate the case. Investors can’t bring themselves to believe that anyone really thinks a buyer will surface.
The one-time behemoth in the smartphone market, BlackBerry has watched its market share collapse from around 50% in 2009 to less than 3% today. The touchscreen phones from Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) and other makers that use the free Android operating system from Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) absolutely crushed BlackBerry’s hold.
We have noted our own skepticism about BlackBerry going private. In the first place, shareholders face a haircut of 50% or more, and today’s market cap of around $5 billion isn’t likely to improve much. In the second place, what sort of alliance or joint venture could BlackBerry make?
BlackBerry needs a buyer to survive and our candidate is Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN). Bezos’ acquisition of the Washington Post newspaper from The Washington Post Co. (NYSE: WPO) has crowned him as a perfect white knight for BlackBerry: find a failing company in a non-growth business, buy it cheap, and see what happens when someone with a vision takes over.
According to Forbes, as of March Bezos’ net worth was $25.2 billion, so he can certainly afford it. He didn’t pay a lot for the Post and BlackBerry has more than $3 billion in cash to help soften the blow.
What’s more, BlackBerry gives Bezos and Amazon an entry into the smartphone market, even as rumors surfaced last week that a game controller was on its way in time for holiday shopping. Stranger things have happened.
Shares are up 5.2% at $10.26 in a 52-week range of $6.22 to $18.32.
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