IIT-M graduate to buy BlackBerry for $4.7 bn
IIT Madras graduate Prem Watsa- led Fairfax Financials has offered to buy out Canadian firm Blackberry for $4.7 billion bringing the Indian origin investor back on the global M&A scene.
All eyes are on Watsa, who migrated to the North American country in 1972, as to whether he will be able to conclude the deal successfully and turn around the troubled smartphone maker who has been hit hard by Apple and Samsung.
Watsa, often called the Warren Buffet of Canada for his unexpected, unorthodox buying moves and predictions, has been at the helm of affairs at Fairfax Financial Holdings as its Chairman and CEO since 1985 and has a track record for making iconoclastic investment deals.
In 1999, Fairfax and ICICI Bank formed a joint venture to form ICICI Lombard GIC a leading private sector general insurance firm in India with a Gross Written Premium (GWP) of Rs 6,420 crore for the year ended March 31, 2013.
Last year, his group purchased 77 per cent of the publicly-listed Indian operations of Thomas Cook UK. Last night, following months of speculation of a buyout, BlackBerry said it reached a tentative agreement for a $4.7 billion buyout by a group led by Watsa-led Fairfax -- its biggest shareholder.
Fairfax owns about 10 per cent of the handset manufacturers common shares.
All eyes are on Watsa, who migrated to the North American country in 1972, as to whether he will be able to conclude the deal successfully and turn around the troubled smartphone maker who has been hit hard by Apple and Samsung.
Watsa, often called the Warren Buffet of Canada for his unexpected, unorthodox buying moves and predictions, has been at the helm of affairs at Fairfax Financial Holdings as its Chairman and CEO since 1985 and has a track record for making iconoclastic investment deals.
In 1999, Fairfax and ICICI Bank formed a joint venture to form ICICI Lombard GIC a leading private sector general insurance firm in India with a Gross Written Premium (GWP) of Rs 6,420 crore for the year ended March 31, 2013.
Last year, his group purchased 77 per cent of the publicly-listed Indian operations of Thomas Cook UK. Last night, following months of speculation of a buyout, BlackBerry said it reached a tentative agreement for a $4.7 billion buyout by a group led by Watsa-led Fairfax -- its biggest shareholder.
Fairfax owns about 10 per cent of the handset manufacturers common shares.
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