BlackBerry co-founders Mike Lazaridis and Doug Fregin said they are “considering all available options” with regard to their shares in the company, including an acquisition of the rest of the company “either by themselves or with other interested acquirers”.

Lazaridis (pictured), former president, co-CEO and co-chairman of the ailing smartphone maker, and Fregin, former VP of operations, both control 8 per cent of the company. In a filing made with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, it was noted that both had agreed to “work exclusively with each other”, indicating that previous reports linking Lazaridis to the Fairfax Financial bid were either incorrect, or would now need to also include Fregin.

Lazaridis and Fregin have previously worked together to create a CAD100 million start-up fund.

Goldman Sachs and Centerview Partners have been appointed to assist with the strategic review.

While BlackBerry last month announced it was in talks with Fairfax Financial about a $4.7 billion deal to go private, there has subsequently been an increased backdrop of scepticism that this will actually go through.

So far, Fairfax Financial – which is BlackBerry’s largest single shareholder, controlling around 10 per cent of the company – has not announced any partners for its bid (its acquisition bid was described as a “consortium”), while poor quarterly results and a bleak management discussion of its performance has led to questions about the valuation.

BlackBerry’s shares have been trading below the level offered by Fairfax, reflecting the doubt over the bid.

Earlier this week, it was suggested that BlackBerry is now more open to a break-up of the company, as the Fairfax bid looks uncertain.

While companies such as Cisco, Google and SAP have been linked with a deal, each of these is said to only want parts of the company – and its core handset manufacture business is not seen as attractive.

Bloomberg cited Sachin Shah from finance firm Albert Fried & Co, who said that BlackBerry may get a better deal by splitting its assets (and separating the unappealing handset business), arguing: “breaking it up sounds more appetising for all involved”.