BlackBerry, the Canadian telecommunication equipment manufacturer, is selling nearly all of its real estate holdings in Canada.
The Financial Post reports that as the company struggles with its smartphone sales, it is looking for new ways to increase its revenue.
In January, BlackBerry announced its plans to sell real estate holdings to raise money for the company's businesses.
Although the company did not reveal the purchase price of the real estate holdings or the buyer, it issued a statement Friday saying that it plans to sell more than 3 million square feet of space, in addition to vacant property as well as lease back some of it.
It is expected that based on the earlier sales prices of the buildings sold by BlackBerry as well as the leaseback agreements, the transaction may yield nearly $550 million for this Ontario-based company.
Meanwhile, The Times of India reports BlackBerry CEO and Executive Chair John Chen as saying: "The successful sale of property in Canada will help us move toward our goal of continued operational efficiency."
He said that the company will announce more terms regarding the transaction after the concerned parties waive or are satisfied with the principal conditions.
In 1999, BlackBerry broke new ground in the manufacturing and marketing of smartphones - a market it dominated until the late 2000s. After this, the company faced severe competition from iPhones and business rivals using Android technology in their smartphones,
Since Chen assumed responsibility of the company in 2013, BlackBerry has been striving to get out of the red.
