Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan buys 7.79 million BlackBerry shares

The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan gave Blackberry a huge vote of confidence by buying 7.79 million shares in the smartphone company during the third quarter of 2014, according to documents filed on Friday with US regulators.

Pensions are incomes for people who have retired.

The retirement fund is now one of BlackBerry’s top-10 stockholders. From Friday’s closing share price, its 1.6% stake (8.23 million shares) is worth approximately $86.7 million.

John Chen, BlackBerry’s CEO has diligently worked to implement a rescue plan for the Canadian telecommunications and wireless equipment company. Over the last twelve months the business has sold real estate, outsourced manufacturing and concentrated on its core corporate customers.

Surge in Blackberry stock value

So far in 2014, BlackBerry shares have jumped 38%. Just on Friday they rose by 2.6%.

Teachers has also purchased nearly 127,000 shares in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., China’s (and possible the world’s) biggest e-commerce business. At the close of trading on Friday Teachers’ Alibaba stake was valued at $14.2 million.

About Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan

The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board (OTPP), usually referred to as simply ‘Teachers’, is one of the world’s biggest institutional investors. It is an independent organization charged with administering defined-benefit pensions for school teachers in the province of Ontario.

In December 2013, Teachers’ reported $140.8 billion in net assets. It has one of the best track records for investment performance, with average annual returns of 10.2% since it was established in 1989.