Former Apple Inc Chief Executive John Sculley is exploring a joint bid for smartphone maker BlackBerry Ltd with Canadian partners, the Globe and Mail reported on Wednesday, citing unnamed sources.<\/p>\n
The report said Sculley declined to comment on the matter, but told the Canadian newspaper that he has been a long-time BlackBerry fan and user.<\/p>\n
BlackBerry, based in Waterloo, Ontario, once dominated the smartphone market but put itself up for sale after being overtake by Apple’s iPhone and devices using Google Inc’s Android operating system.<\/p>\n
“The only thing I would say is, I think there’s a lot of future value in Blackberry,” Sculley told the newspaper. “But without experienced people who have run this type of business, and without a strategic plan, it would be really challenging.”<\/p>\n
Sculley could not immediately be reached to comment on the report or confirm the quotes.<\/p>\n
A BlackBerry spokeswoman said in an e-mail to Reuters that the company did not plan to comment on its strategic review until it approves a specific deal or otherwise concludes the process.<\/p>\n
A group led by property and casualty insurer Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd last month unveiled a $9 a share tentative offer for BlackBerry, but Fairfax did not reveal the other members of the bidding consortium.<\/p>\n
BlackBerry is also in talks with Cisco Systems Inc, Google and SAP about selling them all or parts of itself, several sources close to the matter had told Reuters.<\/p>\n
BlackBerry co-founders Mike Lazaridis and Douglas Fregin are also considering a bid, a securities filing showed earlier this month.<\/p>\n
Chinese computer maker Lenovo Group Ltd has also been cited as a potential buyer.<\/p>\n
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