TORONTO — BlackBerry's largest shareholder has reached a tentative agreement to pay $4.7 billion for the troubled smart phone maker, even as many investors fret about its potential demise.

BlackBerry said Monday that Fairfax Financial Holdings has signed a letter of intent to buy the company for $9 per share in cash and take it private. The tentative deal comes just days after the Canadian company announced plans to lay off 40 percent of its global work force. The offer price is below what the company had been trading at before the layoff announcement.

Analysts say that although BlackBerry's hardware business is not worth anything, the company still owns valuable patents.

BlackBerry is also strong in having total cash and investments of about $2.6 billion, with no debt.

DETROIT — Chrysler Group is reluctantly preparing for an initial public offering of some of its shares.The automaker is proceeding with the IPO after it failed to reach an agreement on the value of the stock with the retiree trust that owns it.Chrysler shares haven't been publicly traded since 1998, when the company merged with Daimler AG. The Auburn Hills, Mich.-based automaker is now majority owned by Italian automaker Fiat SpA.The shares that will be sold are owned by a United Auto Workers-run trust that pays the health care costs for around 130,000 blue-collar Chrysler retirees. The trust currently owns a 41.5 percent stake in Chrysler, and will get all of the proceeds from the sale if it goes forward.

DETROIT — A key ratings agency has restored General Motors' debt to investment grade status, eight years after the company lost the rating as it spiraled toward bankruptcy protection.The upgrade came on Monday morning, shortly after GM announced plans to buy back high-interest preferred stock from a union retiree health care trust fund for $3.2 billion.Moody's Investors Service raised GM's corporate debt from Ba1, which is junk status, to Baa3, the lowest investment grade rating. Two other ratings agencies, Fitch and Standard & Poor's, still have GM at junk status. The upgrade likely means GM will get lower interest rates when it borrows money in the future.

NEW YORK — Wal-Mart Stores is hiring 55,000 seasonal workers and is elevating 70,000 more to part- or full-time positions as the holiday season ramps up.The world’s largest retailer said Monday that 35,000 temporary workers will become part-time and 35,000 part-time workers will gain full-time jobs.The shift means that Wal-Mart will be offering more of its workers benefits. That’s significant because Wal-Mart has been a target of attacks by labor groups for what they say are skimpy wages and benefits.Last season, Wal-Mart hired 50,000 workers and said it would offer more hours in general to its existing employees.