Fairfax sells 5.2 million BlackBerry shares

Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. has trimmed its holdings in BlackBerry Ltd. by 5.2 million shares, according to a regulatory filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

In a quarterly filing with the U.S. regulator in February, the insurance and investment firm said it holds nearly 46.7 million shares or a roughly 8.9 per cent stake in the smartphone maker, down from nearly 51.9 million shares it held previously.

According to data compiled by Thomson Reuters, Fairfax is the second-largest shareholder in BlackBerry behind Primecap Management, which has a 10.4 per cent stake or nearly 54.9 million shares.

Fairfax led takeover attempt

Fairfax led an investment group that injected $1 billion into BlackBerry last fall in a convertible debt financing deal, including US$250 million from Fairfax.

The company later doubled its investment with the purchase of an additional US$250 million earlier this year in BlackBerry convertible debt, which pays six per cent interest annually but can be converted into BlackBerry shares if they rise above US$10.

BlackBerry has been making significant changes to its operations under the leadership of executive chairman and chief executive John Chen.

In its most recent financial results, the company posted a first-quarter loss of US$423 million or 80 cents per share which, on an adjusted basis, was a smaller loss than analysts expected.

Chen aims to make Blackberry break even by the end of next February.

BlackBerry shares were down four cents at C$7.96 Thursday afternoon on the Toronto Stock Exchange.