In an exclusive report, Reuters cited sources who said that bidders for BlackBerry Ltd were looking to buy just parts of the Canadian smartphone maker instead of the whole company. Interest in purchasing the company as a whole was rather dim unless a team up would happen.

Two of the sources also said that private equity firms were more interested in Blackberry's businesses such as its operating system and the company's keyboard patents. One of the sources, however, said that a partnership with a Canadian pension fund and an investor may happen to buy Blackberry as a whole. The company is worth over USD billion if purchased as a whole, but interests were lukewarm.

The sources also said some private equity firms in recent days had agreed to meetings with the company or had signed confidentiality agreements to view the books of the company. Blackberry's sale process was expected to commence in a few weeks.

Analysts had estimated that Blackberry's assets that the private equity firms might snatch up in piece were the company's services businesses that provides power to its security-focused messaging system worth around USD3 billion to USD4.5 billion, USD3.1 billion in cash and investments, and USD2 billion to USD3 billion worth of patents. Even at conservative estimates, the prices were more expensive in parts rather than buying the company as a whole.