BlackBerry Co-Founder Lazaridis Explores Bid for Company
TORONTO—BlackBerry Ltd. co-founder Mike Lazaridis has hired bankers to explore a joint bid for the smartphone maker that forced him out in 2011. Mr. Lazaridis is working with fellow co-founder Doug Fregin and the duo disclosed Thursday an 8% stake in the Canadian company, which has struggled with weak sales and put itself up for sale. The co-founders are exploring "the possibility of submitting a potential joint bid to acquire" all of the BlackBerry shares they do not already own, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission released Thursday. At the end of December, Mr. Lazaridis held a 5.7% stake in the company, according to regulatory filines. Mr. Fregin's previous holdings weren't immediately available. Last month, BlackBerry said it had entered a preliminary agreement with Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. to take the struggling company private for $4.7 billion. Fairfax Financial, which is led by Prem Watsa, owns about 10% of the company. Mssrs. Lazaridis and Fregin are not working with Fairfax Financial on that deal, according to a person close to the matter. The two men have hired Goldman Sachs & Co. and Centerview Partners LLC as consultants on their review process, according to Thursday's filing. Mr. Lazaridis started BlackBerry, formerly known as Research In Motion, in a small office in a Canadian strip mall in 1984. In 2011, Mr. Lazaridis and his partner Jim Balsillie stepped down from their CEO roles and gave the top spot to Thorsten Heins, who has been at BlackBerry since 2007. Earlier this year, Mr. Lazaridis retired from his post as vice chairman and co-founded venture fund Quantum Valley Investments with Mr. Fregin.