BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) is keen to spin off majority of its real estate holdings in Canada to make its balance sheet appear stronger and rebound from the current lows, the Canadian firm said on Tuesday. BlackBerry is in talks with real estate services company CBRE, and wants to divest the major portion of its real estate through a combination of sale-leaseback and vacant asset sales.
Not much information revealed
The Waterloo, Ontario based firm did not reveal much about the process, but said the properties to be divested include a 3 million square feet of office space. Hardly a month ago from now BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) stated that it would sell five buildings, along with some land to the University of Waterloo for around CUSD 41 million. Both the entities will close the deal next month.
There was no statement over the location of the real estate assets, but a major portion of the company’s asset is located around headquarters in Waterloo, Ontario.
BlackBerry’s chief executives John Chen said that the company will keep its headquarters in Waterloo and will retain its ground in Canada following the planned real estate asset sales.
“This initiative will further enhance BlackBerry`s financial flexibility and will provide additional resources to support our operations as our business continues to evolve,” he said.
Sentiments improving towards BlackBerry
The CEO is making efforts to bring substantial change to the company, and focus more on its service business rather than the loss making phone business. BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) has reduced its workforce substantially along with selling the asset in a bid to rebound and rise from the red.
BlackBerry shares tripped to a 10 year low on the Toronto Stock Exchange last month, but gained around 30% this year. Stock has seen bullish sentiments due to recent rumors that it is finalizing the handset production deal with FIH Mobile. The deal brings down the risk of having to book huge write-down’s on unsold phones.
Earlier this week, BlackBerry shares gained after the U.S. Defense Department stated that BB smartphones will be the primary device, which reveals that peers like Apple and Samsung lag behind BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) in supplying communication devices to government agencies.
