BC Business
BlackBerry bailout | BCBusinessThe Canadian government ruled out any public assistance for flailing BlackBerry manufacturer Research In Motion.
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty may feel flailing Research In Motion’s fiscal pain, but Ottawa pre-emptively promised the tech firm would receive no government help as it restructures. As Research In Motion’s sinking ship takes on more water, the Canadian government has promised it won’t offer any financial help to keep the BlackBerry manufacturer afloat.
As Research In Motion’s sinking ship takes on more water, the Canadian government has promised it won’t offer any financial help to keep the BlackBerry manufacturer afloat. Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced Thursday that while Ottawa values RIM’s contributions as “a leading company for Canada in terms of research development and innovation,” the government would offer no bailout money to help the firm as it tries to prop up its falling share prices and firm up its product sales. The announcement seems a bit presumptuous as RIM has given no known indication that it would seek public funds. Especially since the company has $2 billion in backup cash to burn. RIM will need all the extra funding it can muster as the company expects to burn through approximately $500 million of it in the upcoming fiscal year while it restructures and attempts to get back on firmer financial footing. The Waterloo, Ont.-based tech firm has seen its fortunes progressively declining of late. Earlier this week, the company confirmed it would post a quarterly operating loss and expects to layoff as many as 6,000 employees in the coming months in an effort to shave a few zeros off its operating expenses.