Rumours that Samsung wants to acquire BlackBerry have resurfaced once more. According to Reuters, the South Korean company recently approached BlackBerry to discuss a potential acquisition. It is willing to spend as much as US$7.5 billion to acquire the Canadian company primarily for its patent portfolio. This translates to a premium of up to 60% over BlackBerry’s current trading price (although that is likely less as the stock jumped higher on today’s news).
The report adds that executives from both companies met last week to discuss the transaction. A separate report suggests that BlackBerry has turned down a number of takeover bids and that this latest one still falls below what BlackBerry could be worth in a few years as it continues to turn its fortunes around.
BlackBerry late today issued a statement that reads in part that it has “not engaged in discussions with Samsung with respect to any possible offer to purchase BlackBerry.”
BlackBerry and Samsung announced a new partnership back in November that will see the two companies collaborate on their security platforms. More recently, BlackBerry unveiled BES 12 which integrates Samsung’s Knox security platform.
Do you think that BlackBerry is holding out for more money or is it truly looking to continue on the path set out by CEO John Chen? Or do you think that some company will acquire BlackBerry sometime this year? Let us know below what you think.
Update: Samsung has now also denied today’s report. “Media reports of the acquisition are groundless,” a Samsung spokeswoman told Reuters.
Sources : Reuters // The Globe and Mail // Reuters (2)