Cerberus Capital Management LP, private-equity firm, is the latest to show interest in a possible deal with BlackBerry. While the deal with Fairfax Financial may still be in the works, BlackBerry is open to actively seeking offers from other companies before anything with Fairfax is finalized. 

Cerberus is best known for their acquisition of Chrysler Group but aren't very public about many other dealings. According to sources, Cerberus is seeking to sign a confidentiality agreement with BlackBerry in order to oblation financial records for the company. "We do not intend to disclose further developments with the respect to the process until we approve a specific transaction or otherwise conclude the review of strategic alternatives," BlackBerry said in a statement. 

It's entirely normal for a potential bidder to sign a confidentiality agreement in order look under the covers of the reported financials and dig deeper into the business. When this news broke, around 1pm, there was an immediate upwards spike in the price. This is easy to explain. Previously, the market believed Fairfax would be the only bidder, and that it may in fact lower it's offer price. Another potential bidder, even if it's just a potential bidder, increases the likelihood of a deal going through closer to the original $9 price -- this is what's driving the stock up.

It's still unknown if any other companies are interested in snatching up BlackBerry as they aren't obligated to make any of the strategic review information public, so we could still see other players in the game before a transaction is completed. 

Read more