Research In Motion shares jumped to to its highest since late 2011 after its chief executive officer said the BlackBerry maker is considering strategic options including a sale of its hardware production unit.
Possibilities include “the sale of hardware production as well as licensing of our software,” CEO Thorsten Heins was reported as saying in an interview with German newspaper Die Welt.
Nick Manning, a spokesman for the Waterloo, Ontario-based company, said those options are examples that Heins cited among the possibilities under consideration in a strategic review.
The company hired JPMorgan Chase & Co. and RBC Capital Markets in May to help it evaluate options. While Heins hasn’t ruled out a sale of the company, he has said RIM’s focus is on exploring strategic partnerships or software licencing deals.
On Jan. 30, there will be the debut of the new BlackBerry 10 devices that RIM is counting on to reverse a sales slide and help it win back market share lost to Apple Inc.’s iPhone and handsets that run Google Inc.’s Android software.
RIM (Nasdaq: RIMM) rose 14 percent to $17.87 in trading in Toronto after climbing as high as $18.49 in Canadian dollars earlier in the day, the highest since Dec. 1, 2011.
The stock has more than doubled since late September on growing optimism for BlackBerry 10’s prospects.
RIM didn’t trade in New York Monday because of a public holiday.
The strategic review continues “but there is no reason for us to rush to decide,” Heins was quoted as saying by Die Welt. “First and foremost, it’s important to bring BlackBerry 10 successfully to market.”
RIM operates a research and development office in the Research Triangle Park, N.C. area.
