BlackBerry continues to offer itself to potential suitors, add Facebook to the list

While we have known that BlackBerry put itself up for sale for some time now, and while we have also known that there have been preliminary deals inked to effect such a sale, company executives continue to peddle BlackBerry’s wares in hopes to find someone, somewhere, to shell out even more money for the concern.

During this strategic review, where BlackBerry put the “for sale” sign up, and began a process to lay-off 40% of its workforce, executives cited that the company would refocus on enterprise and the so-called “prosumer” market for its products and services.

So, it makes perfect sense that a business oriented outfit like that would want to check with a consumer-centered company like Facebook right? Facebook is on the record, and rightly so, that it has no interest in being a hardware maker. Imagine the climate at the world’s largest social networking site if it had decided to build its own gear and debut Facebook Home on an HTC First-style device.

Call it an act of desperation or simply the process of covering all the bases, we are pretty certain it was a combination of both and that this is a still a no-go. The dichotomy between the two companies, never mind cultures, cannot be overstated (could you imagine a merger between the privacy departments?). Hats off to BlackBerry for checking the box however, as executives from the Canadian icon met with Facebook last week.

The due diligence period for the offer from Fairfax Financial ends next week and so far, it is the only standing offer on the table to acquire BlackBerry in whole (or in part for that matter). It is possible that Lenovo or even BlackBerry’s founders, Mike Lazaridis and Doug Fregin may be interested, but no offers have been tendered.

source: The Wall Street Journal