RIM Co-Founders Drop Bid for BlackBerry Purchase

The Wall Street Journal reports that BlackBerry Limited (formerly known as Research in Motion, or RIM) co-founder Michael Lazaridis revealed in a regulatory filing on Tuesday that he no longer plans to team up with partner co-founder Douglas Fregin to acquire the struggling company.

The Wall Street Journal says that Tuesday’s filing shows Lazaridis to own 4.99 percent of the company, and that he and co-founder Fregin are no longer pursuing an acquisition. No other comments were provided, and all three parties have declined to comment or “couldn’t be reached”.

Lazaridis and Fregin reportedly launched RIM back in 1984, using a loan provided by Lazaridis’ father and office space in a Canadian strip mall. Now the company is partnering with Foxconn, a deal which will supposedly bring smartphones to Indonesia and other fast-growing markets in early 2014.

BlackBerry recently revealed a hefty $4.4 billion GAAP-adjusted loss for fiscal 3Q 2014. The loss included a non-cash, pre-tax charge against long-lived assets of approximately $2.7 billion, a primarily non-cash, pre-tax charge against inventory and supply commitments of approximately $1.6 billion, and pre-tax restructuring, legal and financial advisory charges of approximately $266 million.

Lazaridis stepped down from his executive role back in early 2012 thanks to an eroding smartphone market share and declining BlackBerry stock values. However he stayed on the Board until May 1 of 2013.

Kevin Parrish
Contributor

Kevin Parrish has over a decade of experience as a writer, editor, and product tester. His work focused on computer hardware, networking equipment, smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, and other internet-connected devices. His work has appeared in Tom's Hardware, Tom's Guide, Maximum PC, Digital Trends, Android Authority, How-To Geek, Lifewire, and others.

  • Parsian
    I automatically read RIM as Rest in Motion. It is quite appropriate.
    Reply
  • vinay2070
    And I read it as Reliance India Mobile <Head bang smiley>
    Reply
  • virtualban
    And I read it as 'RIP', because my diagonal reading caught the word 'Blackberry' first
    Reply
  • tmk221
    and I read it as RIM becouse I can read... :)
    Reply
  • acas7i11o
    But they are also the ones who created the thing in the first place. They just couldn't adapt to an ever-changing landscape, that's all. The rest is how a giant falls.
    Reply