Oliver Lang/dapd, via Associated PressResearch in Motion’s BlackBerry.
The call for Research In Motion to explore a sale of all or part of the company is growing louder.
On Tuesday, the Jaguar Financial Corporation, a Canadian activist investor that is leading a campaign to agitate change at the BlackBerry maker, announced on Tuesday that it has the support of shareholders who represent 8 percent of RIM’s shares. In a statement, the firm advised the company to install a new chief executive and chairman and to explore options that will increase shareholder value, such as a sale of the company, a merger, or a split that would divide RIM into three separate businesses.
“Our game plan is to gain the support of shareholders representing a significant number of RIM shares,” Vic Albioni, chief executive of Jaguar Financial, said in a statement. “Our supportive shareholders approve Jaguar’s plan to negotiate, at this point in time, changes in governance and the pursuit of a value creation transaction.”
Jaguar, a boutique Canadian merchant bank, is far from RIM’s largest shareholder, but it is tapping into a base of investors growing increasingly restive. The stock is hovering at five-year lows. Since the start of this year, shares of RIM have plunged nearly 60 percent. The company has been troubled by production delays and an increasingly competitive environment, as more consumers buy mobile devices powered by rivals Apple and Google.
In September, Jaguar reached out to RIM in a tersely worded letter. The firm blasted the company for its corporate governance structure (which includes two chief executives that serve as co-chairmen) and a lack of innovation.
On Tuesday, Jaguar stepped up its rhetoric. Calling for a dismissal of RIM’s chief executives, Jaguar said the company has lacked focus because of its current governance structure. “The lack of board oversight and absence of an independent chairman allowed one of the two Co-C.E.O.’s to chase his dream of buying an NHL hockey team during the same period,” the company said in its statement. The appointment of a new chief executive, Jaguar continued, will “address the historical lack of attention and oversight at the board level, and the need for a laser beam focus by management on RIM’s business rather than distractions such as a professional hockey team.
Jaguar also called on RIM’s board to follow the lead of several technology giants, which have recently pursued dramatic changes. For instance, the firm noted, in the last two months, Yahoo has ejected its chief Carol Bartz, Hewlett-Packard has dropped Leo Apotheker, and Google bought Motorola Mobility after it was spun out of Motorola.
“The path to negotiated change is precise and clear; it is not paved with uncertainty. It is time for meaningful and obvious change,” Mr. Albioni said.
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