TORONTO: BlackBerry's biggest shareholder has approached several large Canadian investment funds about forging a deal to take the smartphone maker private, but the proposal is still "an airy-fairy, 'what if' kind of thing," according to a source with direct knowledge of the situation.
The shareholder, Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd, has a 10% stake, and its chairman and chief executive, Prem Watsa, has left BlackBerry's board already to avoid any possible conflict of interest as the company assesses its strategic options.