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 Watsa earlier this year sought partners in a $4.7 billion bid to
take BlackBerry private. But his company, Fairfax Financial, then
opted for a lead role in a $1 billion note offering to provide the
Canadian company with money to fund a turnaround.
John Chen, a turnaround specialist with Sybase in the late 1990s,
was brought in as interim CEO.
"John's committed for the long haul, he's an exceptional leader,
he's going to do very well," Watsa told Reuters in a telephone
interview from his Toronto office, where he described BlackBerry as
an iconic company that deserves to succeed.
BlackBerry virtually invented the idea of on-the-go email, but lost
its stranglehold on the market as rivals brought out more
consumer-friendly devices like Apple's iPhone and phones using
Google's Android software.
BlackBerry's struggles before Chen took over on November 25 were
well documented, and analysts had already described the changes Chen
was making as going beyond what would be expected from an interim
appointment.
"In any of my investments we always look at the leadership, in this
case it's John Chen, he's an outstanding leader," Watsa said, adding
that Chen had already made "some very significant changes" at
BlackBerry.
Watsa said the injection of cash from the new note meant BlackBerry
was well financed. "It's got lots of cash, it has a long runway for
John to make sure that the company is successful," he said. "We take
the long-term view, we don't worry about quarter by quarter."
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"Companies are built over time, they're built by good people working
together under the leadership of a very good leader."
The failure to press ahead with the $4.7 billion takeover could be
seen as a black mark on the resume of Watsa, who was on the right
side of the U.S. housing crash in 2007 and 2008 and also won big in
Tokyo's 1990 market collapse.
"You never look back, you deal with the hand that you have, there's
no use looking at whether you can get four aces or a flush, you deal
with the hand that you have," he said.
"We think BlackBerry is an iconic company, an iconic brand, it's
known worldwide ... it's a company that deserves to exist and with
John Chen it will."
[REUTERS MEDIA; By
Laura Noonan]
(Additional reporting by Janet Guttsman
and Euan Rocha in Toronto; reporting By Laura Noonan; editing by
David Evans)
Copyright 2013 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
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