Blackberry has been struggling to remain afloat these last few years. With steep competitive from Apple and Google Android, sales and stock have plummeted. Recently, Manulife Financial bought into the $1 billion bond deal to turn Blackberry from a 
public company back to a private one.
Manulife, an insurance company, invested $70 million into the deal along with Markel Corp., an insurance holding company, and Brookfield Asset Management. Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. Is leading the financing for the debt after deciding not to buy Blackberry outright.
Blackberry has been struggling for a while now. They cut 40% of the company’s workforce, after bad sales of their Z10. They have also turned away from the consumer market, and have turned to the corporate one and will focus on software to manage and secure mobile devices for workers.
Blackberry also wrote an open letter to consumers reassuring that Blackberry is still dependable. In it, they acknowledge the steep competition and state, “We are making the difficult changes necessary to strengthen Blackberry”.
Only time will tell if Blackberry survives, let alone become as successful as they were. They will have to be innovative and find a competitive edge that lets them compete with Apple’s and Google’s technology.