BlackBerry is publishing an open letter in major publications around the world in a bid to reassure customers that they can count on the distressed smartphone company.

The letter was released Monday on Twitter and will be published in 30 publications in nine countries Tuesday. It acknowledges "these are no doubt challenging times for us and we don't underestimate the situation" but says "you can continue to count on BlackBerry." The missive notes that BlackBerry has substantial cash and is debt free. But it makes no mention of the fact that the company is for sale and could be broken up and sold in pieces.

The stock is trading well below Fairfax's tentative offer on fears that the deal won't go through or that the final price will be lower. BlackBerry Ltd.'s U.S.-traded shares closed up 7 cents to $8.14 Monday.
"We're getting a lot of queries and interest from loyal consumers, from all of our enterprise customers and big government institutions," Andrew MacLeod, BlackBerry's regional managing director for North America, said in an interview. MacLeod said it's important to communicate with customers while the company goes through a difficult restructuring. He declined to comment on the sale process because a special committee of board members is examining that.