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Blackberry logos and flags are seen at the company's offices in Waterloo, Ont.MATTHEW SHERWOOD/The Globe and Mail

Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. released the names of the partners willing to pony up cash for BlackBerry's $1-billion (U.S.) debt financing. It's pretty easy to see why most of them are at the table.

The rationale for each of the five other players:

Canso Investment Counsel

Size of investment: $300-million (the largest of all six investors)

Canso isn't a familiar name to the average investor, but they're well known in financial circles. Based in Richmond Hill, Ont., just north of Toronto, the asset manager specializes in Canadian debt investing – and particularly likes to dabble in bonds that aren't investment grade. A speculative BlackBerry offering is right up their alley. An interesting aside: Canso's taken a really negative view on the Canadian housing market and is frustrated that home prices haven't cratered.

Qatar Holding

Size of investment: $100-million

Qatar Holding, the investment arm of the Qatari Investment Authority, is getting comfortable dabbling in Western investments. The money manager plowed £9.2-billion ($15.5-billion Canadian) into Barclays PLC when the British bank was teetering during the financial crisis, and has also invested in the likes of Porsche and Swiss bank Credit Suisse.

Markel Corp.

Size of investment: $100-million

Much like Fairfax, U.S. based Markel is focused on insurance, but also has a hand in a variety of other investments, such as manufacturing and health care companies. And there's a reason the two look quite similar. Prem Watsa took control of Markel's Canadian arm in the late 1980s and ultimately renamed it Fairfax, so there are close ties between the partners.

Brookfield Asset Management

Size of investment: $50-million

Brookfield loves a good turnaround story. Case in point: General Growth Properties. In 2009 the U.S. shopping mall specialist filed for bankruptcy protection and a few months later Brookfield swooped in to write a large equity cheque. The investment paid big dividends. Should BlackBerry be able to turn itself around, the option to convert the new debt into equity could ultimately pay handsome rewards, much like General Growth.

Mackenzie Financial Corp.

Size of investment: $300-million

Of all the partners, Mackenzie is the odd duck. The company is best known for its mutual funds, not bold investments. However, it has ties to the insurance industry, where Fairfax is well connected, through its parent. Mackenzie is owned by IGM Financial, which is in turn 58 per cent owned by Power Financial Corp.. Power Financial owns Great-West Lifeco Inc.

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Tickers mentioned in this story

Study and track financial data on any traded entity: click to open the full quote page. Data updated as of 28/03/24 4:00pm EDT.

SymbolName% changeLast
BAM-N
Brookfield Asset Management Ltd
+0.53%42.02
BAM-T
Brookfield Asset Management Ltd
+0.34%56.9
BB-T
Blackberry Ltd
-0.54%3.71
FFH-T
Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd
-0.54%1460.1
GWO-T
Great-West Lifeco Inc
+0.93%43.32
IGM-T
Igm Financial Inc
-0.06%34.93
MKL-N
Markel Corp
-0.38%1521.48

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