The sale of BlackBerry is in danger of descending into a dismemberment as the buyers that have so far indicated an interest in the company are only interested in purchasing parts of the smartphone maker.
According to Reuters, interest in the company has proved to be tepid with only a handful of potential bidders having emerged since it put itself up for sale on 12 August.
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While a number of private equity firms are eyeing up the company, they are thought to be interested in only parts of the company, such as the BlackBerry 10 and QNX operating systems, or patents around its smartphone keyboard, according to Reuters' sources.
"In recent days a few private equity firms have signed confidentiality agreements or have agreed to meetings with the company to gain access to the company's books," reported Reuters, adding that the sale process was expected to start "in a few weeks".
Interested parties that have emerged have signed confidentiality agreements and gained access to the company's books. Unlike rival Nokia, BlackBerry is debt-free and does not have any pending bonds or borrowings to pay off.
However, the sale of BlackBerry has not enticed any of the biggest private equity companies, nor any of Asia's major handset makers, who could be interested in the brand name, if nothing else.
The one organisation that almost certainly is interested in buying part or all of BlackBerry is Fairfax Financial Holdings, BlackBerry's biggest shareholder with a 9.9 per cent stake. Its chairman and CEO, Prem Watsa, stood down from his position on the BlackBerry board when the sale announcement was made in order to ensure there would be no conflicts of interest.
BlackBerry is supposedly worth around $5bn - compared to a stock market value of $84bn at its peak in 2008.
