The Latest in IT Security

In September a Canadian investment firm made a $4.7 billion buyout offer to BlackBerry — but banks are so skeptical about the former smartphone giant the firm is reportedly having trouble raising the funds. Reuters reports that Fairfax Financial Holdings has found that several large banks dont want to be involved with the deal, primarily because they dont think the troubled company will be able to turn things around enough to make the investment worthwhile. Fairfax head Prem Watsa is said to be working with Bank of America Merrill Lynch and BMO Capital Markets to put together a group for the deal, but has reportedly found such efforts stymied. The news comes as reports surface that BlackBerry co-founder Mike Lazaridis is working with Qualcomm to put together his own buyout group. In the wake of the Fairfax offer — and the desire of BlackBerrys board to sell the company this year — BlackBerry has been gauging interest from almost every technology company out there, including the likes of Facebook, Google, and Samsung.