Blackberry to divest most of its Canadian properties

The latest page in Blackberry's business woes comes in the form of a property announcement, with the company revealing plans to divest the majority of its real estate located in Canada. This follows some pretty big layoffs, as well as a recent announcement that it'll be selling five of its buildings to the University of Waterloo for $41 million Canadian.

The divestment will be taking place in part with CBRE, a real estate services company. Blackberry didn't say how much it is looking to make from the sales, but such a business move comes amidst months of hardship and the need to offset poor numbers. The real estate divestment will come in two forms.

Blackberry says, according to Reuters, that it will both sell vacant assets and initiate sale-leaseback sales, with the properties comprising more than 3 million square feet of office space. Where these buildings are located also wasn't specified, but given that most of Blackberry's physical locations hover in proximity to its Waterloo headquarters, one can assume these buildings are in the same general area.

As for the buildings it has already agreed to sell, the University of Waterloo has said its campus will grow 300,000 square feet as a result, as well as gaining 1000 parking spaces. Good news for the university, and good news for whatever companies acquires its current properties, but another sad tale in the long story of Blackberry in a world of shifting mobile preferences.






SOURCE: Reuters

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Dell cutting 'workforce' with voluntary employee buyout

Dell has aimed to cut its workforce by offering what it is politely calling a voluntary separation program,which is a gentle way to say they’re looking for employees to voluntarily jump the ship. The offer is coming in conjunction with a buyout package, of which the incentives have not been detailed, though the Wall Street Journal reports that it has reviewed the materials.

Notice about the program was sent out to Dell’s employees earlier this week, and gives them until December 20 to decide if they want to accept the buyout and part with the company. Details have been provided to the employees, but specifics haven’t yet become available to the general public. This is a gentle way to reduce the company’s workload without having to layoff workers.

Said a spokesperson for the company, David Fink, A critical element of our strategy has been, and always will be, about improving our cost structure and freeing up capital to make the investments in growth areas that matter to our customers. He didn’t offer up any more information than this, however, leaving the rest up to waiting and speculation.

How effective will the program be? That likely depends on what Dell is offering as part of the buyout. The biggest question, perhaps, is what will happen if the numbers Dell is hoping to see doesn’t emerge. Will the company then proceed with a layoff to further cull its workers? The spokesperson declined to comment on this particular matter, and Dell workers seem to have been left in an unfortunate limbo this holiday season.


SOURCE : WSJ.COM

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