Rumours that Research In Motion could get bought out surface every once in a while (Microsoft, Nokia, Amazon all mentioned recently). With the company’s recent challenges and slumping stock price, these have resurfaced again. Not only is RIM apparently looking to license its operating system to others but it is also actively looking to sell either a portion of the company or even the whole company. A “trusted source with knowledge of the situation” has now told BGR that the latest suitor is Samsung.
Among the assets likely to interest Samsung are RIM’s BlackBerry Messenger as well as its enterprise tools and software. These would allow Samsung to better differentiate itself from its competitors.
One stumbling block in negotiations appears to be RIM’s asking price. RIM’s co-CEOs are apparently looking for between US$12 and US$15 billion. The company is worth just under US$9 billion today (with a 5% jump in stock today alone).
This latest rumour contradicts earlier ones that RIM wanted to see how BlackBerry 10 fared before deciding on whether to sell itself to someone else.
Read more: BGR