Lenovo CEO Hints at Possible BlackBerry Acquistion, BBRY Shares Surge
It's one of those rumors that just won't vanish. Ever since RIM (now known as BlackBerry) announced that BB10 wouldn't be ready until the start of 2013, shares of the Canadian company began to nosedive. And with that came the inevitable talk of a takeover. Similar to how Microsoft stepped in to side with Nokia, many analysts were expecting a deal to be reached that would bring RIM under another company's wing. To date, the outfit is hanging on by its lonesome, attempting to reverse fortunes with the impending Q10 and Z10.
Recently, Lenovo Group's CEO was quoted in a French newspaper referencing BlackBerry, and while the comment was vague, it certainly whet the appetite of those wanting something to go down. Lenovo’s Yang Yuanqing told Les Echos that a deal involving Lenovo and BlackBerry "could possibly make sense, but first I need to analyze the market and understand what exactly the importance of this company is." That doesn't sound like "Yes, we're buying BlackBerry" to us, but evidently it was enough to cause quite the stir on Wall Street.
BlackBerry's shares jumped a bit after the quote was published, but neither company has mentioned anything about it since them. Of course, if Lenovo or any other company ever did make a bid for BlackBerry, it would face tough regulatory hurdles. The Canadian government automatically inspects takeover bids this large to determine the "net benefit" for Canada, and given that BlackBerry has been a mark of pride for the Maple Leaf in recent years, you can't expect that the nation would let it go into foreign hands easily. At any rate, we'll be watching for more. A lot likely depends on the success or relative failure of these new BB10 phones.
Recently, Lenovo Group's CEO was quoted in a French newspaper referencing BlackBerry, and while the comment was vague, it certainly whet the appetite of those wanting something to go down. Lenovo’s Yang Yuanqing told Les Echos that a deal involving Lenovo and BlackBerry "could possibly make sense, but first I need to analyze the market and understand what exactly the importance of this company is." That doesn't sound like "Yes, we're buying BlackBerry" to us, but evidently it was enough to cause quite the stir on Wall Street.
BlackBerry's shares jumped a bit after the quote was published, but neither company has mentioned anything about it since them. Of course, if Lenovo or any other company ever did make a bid for BlackBerry, it would face tough regulatory hurdles. The Canadian government automatically inspects takeover bids this large to determine the "net benefit" for Canada, and given that BlackBerry has been a mark of pride for the Maple Leaf in recent years, you can't expect that the nation would let it go into foreign hands easily. At any rate, we'll be watching for more. A lot likely depends on the success or relative failure of these new BB10 phones.
