For months, investors have clamored for a significant strategic overhaul, fresh leadership or a sale of the company as the BlackBerry maker struggled to stay competitive with rivals Apple Inc. and Google Inc. amid operational blunders and a tumbling share price. The surprise exit of Messrs. Balsillie and Lazaridis is a significantly more aggressive step than many critics had expected from RIM to try to assuage angry shareholders. But it stops short of a clean break with the two, who will stay on as directors and significant shareholders.
RIM announced that Mr. Lazaridis, who in 1984 co-founded the company using a loan from his parents, and Mr. Balsillie, who joined him in 1992, had stepped down as executives and had relinquished their roles as co-chairmen. The board named Thorsten Heins, previously one of two chief operating officers, to be chief executive, the company said.
Mr. Heins, 54 years old, joined RIM in 2007 after being chief technology officer at Siemens AG. While well known in the industry, Mr. Heins, who is originally from Germany, has worked in the shadow of Messrs. Balsillie and Lazaridis during his time at RIM, most recently as chief operating officer for software, hardware and sales.
The company also said that current board member Barbara Stymiest will become the independent board chairman. Mr. Lazaridis will stay on as the board's vice chairman, and Mr. Balsillie will stay on as a board member.
In interviews, the two men and other RIM executives and board members said the two weren't forced to leave. Rather, they said, the two recommended the leadership changes to the board. Mr. Balsillie said the timing was right because RIM's two biggest projects—a revamp of the poorly selling PlayBook tablet expected early this year and the rollout later in the year of a new BlackBerry phone that will use RIM's new operating system—are on track.
He denied the timing had anything to do with investor pressure or RIM's weakening stock price. "It was not a reaction to that," Mr. Balsillie said in an interview at RIM's headquarters here. In 2011, RIM's stock lost about three-quarters of its value.
The company also said it won't be deviating from the fundamental strategy Messrs. Balsillie and Lazaridis have set for turning the company's fortunes around. That road map involves rolling out the updated PlayBook, the new BlackBerry, and a new operating system called BlackBerry 10 that will power both.
"It's going to be continuity, but it's not going to be a standstill," Mr. Heins said in the interview. Ms. Stymiest said that the board had given its full backing to the two men's recommendation that Mr. Heins replace them and that it supported the continuation of the company's current strategy.
RIM also appointed a new board member, Prem Watsa, chief executive of Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd., a Canadian investment firm and big RIM shareholder. In a separate interview, Mr. Watsa said there was no outside pressure from him for the two to go. Fairfax built up a significant stake in RIM recently because the firm believes in the long-term value of the company, he said.
For months, RIM has been trading under book value, triggering a raft of speculation that a white knight or hostile bidder would appear. But Messrs. Balsillie and Lazaridis repeatedly signaled they weren't interested in selling the company, and their continued presence in leadership roles was seen as a big obstacle to any significant deal talks.
It is unclear whether a potential bidder will view RIM as a more attractive target without the two in the executive suite. But RIM's management and board aren't currently seeking suitors. "There is no intent to put the company up for sale," said a person familiar with the matter.
Mr. Heins said he was sticking to RIM's bet that its next-generation operating system would attract critical mass among developers and wow consumers and business users alike. He also said that if the new OS is a big hit, RIM might consider licensing the software to other vendors, a move the company had signaled it is exploring. He added that he would listen to other companies that express licensing interest "on a case-by-case basis."
read more: Olympus Wealth Management
No comments:
Post a Comment