BlackBerry to sell most of its Canadian real estate for $305M

BlackBerry said Monday that Spear Street Capital has waived a due diligence condition in its deal to buy the majority of the smartphone company's real estate holdings in Canada for $305 million.

The Waterloo, Ont.-based company first announced the sale in March, but did not identify the buyer or the purchase price at the time.

BlackBerry said the companies expect to close the sale of properties valued at approximately 80 per cent of the total later this month, with the remainder to be completed in the third quarter.

Under the deal, BlackBerry will sell more than three million square feet of space and vacant lands and lease back a portion of the properties.

BlackBerry has been cutting costs and restructuring its business in a bid to stay alive, including a plan to eliminate about 40 per cent of the company's workforce.

However, executive chairman and chief executive John Chen has said that BlackBerry is still committed to having a strong presence in Canada.

An earlier agreement between the University of Waterloo and BlackBerry saw the university pick up five buildings and land for $41 million in December.

That deal gave the university an additional 300,000 square feet of space and 1,000 more parking spots, while BlackBerry leased back two buildings from the university.