Ex-Apple CEO Sculley Mulling BlackBerry Bid: Report

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.

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.

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.

“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.”

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Sculley could not immediately be reached to comment on the report or confirm the quotes.

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.

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.

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.

BlackBerry co-founders Mike Lazaridis and Douglas Fregin are also considering a bid, a securities filing showed earlier this month.

Chinese computer maker Lenovo Group Ltd has also been cited as a potential buyer.