BlackBerry co-founder Mike Lazaridis has officially abandoned his plans to acquire the troubled company through a joint bid with another co-founder, according to CNET.

In cancelling the plan, Lazaridis' stake in the smartphone firm is now 4.99%, the report added.

Lazaridis announced his decision on Tuesday in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The acquisition plan was announced in October. Under the said plan, Lazaridis and Douglas Fregin, a fellow co-founder, had combined stakes to achieve 8% total ownership. The two co-founders had also said they were mulling the purchase of BlackBerry. However, the firm took itself off the market last month. The new management is now working to save the sagging company, the report detailed.

This year has been especially rough on BlackBerry. After falling behind further in the smartphone competition, the company placed its last bet on two new smartphone units. Unfortunately, both products failed to turn the company around. In the most recent quarter, BlackBerry posted losses amounting to $4.4 billion, CNET reported.