BlackBerry selling Canadian real estate, but ‘committed’ to Waterloo

BlackBerry, which has been riding a wave of good news of late, said Tuesday it plans to sell off the “majority” of its Canadian real estate – a move that likely includes much if not all of its long-time Waterloo, Ont. campus.

In a statement, the smartphone maker said it would sell and then lease back properties, offering up for sale three-million square feet of office space.

READ MORE: BlackBerry shares surge — just in time for RRSP season

A leaseback is when an owner sells a property but continues to occupy the location as a rent-paying tenant.

BlackBerry said it would continue to be headquartered in Waterloo, where the one-time smartphone market leader was founded by Mike Lazaridis as Research In Motion Ltd. in the late 1990s.

“BlackBerry remains committed to being headquartered in Waterloo and having a strong presence in Canada along with other global hubs,” new chief executive John Chen said.

Chen was appointed in November to arrest BlackBerry’s fast decline following a less than successful launch of its long awaited BlackBerry 10 handset lineup last year.

For the embattled tech firm, it’s about raising money to fund a multi-year turnaround plan that will rely less on handset sales and more of device management and mobile software services, experts say.

“This initiative will further enhance BlackBerry’s financial flexibility, and will provide additional resources to support our operations as our business continues to evolve,” Chen said in a statement.

BlackBerry said it wouldn’t comment on the potential value of a sale and will disclose further information as required.

The company’s share price has been on a tear of late following the appointment of Chen and a new leadership team as well as on optimism over a handful of new handset deals.