BlackBerry has decided to abandon a plan to sell itself to its biggest shareholder, Fairfax Financial Holdings.
Instead, BlackBerry intends to raise $1 billion in fresh financing.
Chief executive Thorsten Heins will step down and former Sybase chief executive John Chen will serve as interim chief executive.
Last month, BlackBerry reported a second-quarter net loss of $965 million.
Those losses were blamed on poor sales of its new smartphone, the Z10.
Fairfax was planning to lead a consortium of firms in a takeover of BlackBerry worth $4.7 billion.
But that plan, announced last month, has fallen through.
Last week, Reuters reported that Fairfax was struggling to raise the financing needed for the deal.
Instead, Fairfax, which owns a 10% stake in BlackBerry, is contributing $250 million to the new fund-raising.
“This financing provides an immediate cash injection on terms favorable to BlackBerry, enhancing our substantial cash position,” said Barbara Stymiest, chair of BlackBerry’s board of directors.
In September, BlackBerry announced a plan to cut 4,500 jobs, or 40% of its workforce, to reverse giant losses.
The interim chief executive, John Chen, acknowledged the challenge ahead: “BlackBerry is an iconic brand with enormous potential – but it’s going to take time, discipline and tough decisions to reclaim our success.”
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