BlackBerry Cancels Friday's Second Quarter Results Conference Call, Webcast Pending Fairfax Buyout Deal

BlackBerry Ltd. (NASDAQ:BBRY) on Wednesday canceled its earnings call scheduled for Friday morning to discuss its earnings for the second quarter, citing a tentative bid from its largest shareholder Fairfax Financial Holdings, which is currently in the works. The company had pre-announced most of its financial results including its projections for the third quarter on Friday.

The Waterloo, Ontario-based company, in a brief statement said that it will release its complete financial results for the second quarter at 7 a.m. EDT on Friday, and will publish further details in the consolidated financial statements to be filed next week.

“In light of the letter of intent agreement between BlackBerry and Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited that was signed and announced on Monday, September 23, BlackBerry has canceled its second quarter earnings conference call and webcast that had previously been scheduled for Friday, September 27 at 8:00 a.m.,” the company, said in a brief statement.

On Monday, the iconic phone company that was once a pioneer in the smartphone space but has since been left behind by rivals like Apple and Samsung, announced that it had signed a letter of intent with a consortium led by Fairfax, to take the company private in a deal valued at $4.7 billion. The deal is subject to due diligence and is expected to be completed by Nov.4. Meanwhile, BlackBerry can continue to scout around for other suitors.

The deal failed to impress markets, which appear to be skeptical about its success and BlackBerry shares lost more than 6 percent to close at $8.02 -- almost a dollar less than its bid price of $9 -- on Wednesday.

However, Prem Watsa, CEO of Toronto, Ontario-based Fairfax, said Wednesday that he is confident about the success of the deal.

"We wouldn't put our name to such a high-profile deal if we didn't feel confident that at the end of the day that our due diligence would be fine and we'd be able to finance it," Watsa said in an interview on Wednesday, Reuters reported.

Fairfax owns approximately 10 percent of BlackBerry’s common shares.

Last week, BlackBerry said it expects an operating loss of approximately $950 million to $995 million in the second quarter, and that it would cut about 4,500 jobs -- about 40 percent of its total workforce -- as part of its restructuring plan.