The Globe and Mail reports in its Tuesday edition that BlackBerry, which has struggled to regain investor interest since the demise of its smart phone business, is exploring a potential breakup of the company. The Globe's Sean Silcoff writes that the company said in a release late Monday that its board is initiating a review of its portfolio of businesses to explore strategic alternatives that "include, but are not limited to, the possible separation of one or more of BlackBerry's businesses." The company has hired investment banks Morgan Stanley and Perilla Weinberg as financial advisers but has not set a timetable for completing the process. Its shares jumped 8.25 per cent in after-market trading. The move appears to be an attempt to appease investors leading up to its June 27 annual meeting. Last year, lead director Prem Watsa, whose Fairfax Financial owns 8 per cent of BlackBerry stock, was re-elected with just 50.7 per cent support. Since then, British hedge fund Fifthdelta has made a big move into BlackBerry stock, buying 57.9 million shares, or 9.98 per cent of the total. Fifthdelta has made other investments in the Internet-of-things space, suggesting it is interested in BlackBerry's connected car business.