BlackBerry Losing Real Estate in Canada

March 25, 2014 • Blog, Business

Two months ago BlackBerry Ltd. announced that it would sell off most of its Canadian real estate in hopes of “mov[ing] toward our goal of continued operational efficiency,” said chief executive officer John Chen.

Recently, the struggling tech giant reached a deal to sell more than 3 million square feet of space as well as lease back some of it in a transaction that is expected to close by the end of May. Though the company has yet to disclose any terms of the agreement, said Ted Davis, a property broker with Avison Young Inc., the sale is expected to put as much as $550 million back into BlackBerry’s pocket.

Though the company has encountered some recent pitfalls, Chen is hoping to return the company to its roots, making devices for business users and continuing to make phones that offer physical keyboards. In December, the company announced a deal with Foxcomm Technology Group to outsource phone production in order to save money.

Shares in BlackBerry have risen 1.9% to $9.60 and it is expected the company will stop losing money by the end of the fiscal year that closes March 2015.

Despite the fact that it’s losing a great deal of their Canadian property, Chen assures that BlackBerry is committed to having a “strong presence” in Canada and will “continue to consider Waterloo home to our global headquarters.”

http://business.financialpost.com/2014/03/21/blackberry-ltd-reaches-deal-to-sell-most-of-its-canadian-real-estate/?__lsa=2eb9-133e

BlackBerry business digging a grave property Real Estate