BlackBerry has denied it is in talks to sell itself to Samsung, following a report that the South Korean electronics giant was preparing an offer worth $7.5 billion.
"BlackBerry has not engaged in discussions with Samsung with respect to any possible offer to purchase BlackBerry," said the Canadian smartphone maker, in a brief statement late on Wednesday.
The denial was issued after an unnamed source claimed in a Reuters report that executives from the two companies met last week to discuss a potential transaction.
Samsung was said to have proposed an initial offer price of $13.35-$15.49 per share. Before the story appeared, BlackBerry’s shares were trading at around $9.66, but the news caused the price to spike to $12.59. It has since fallen to around $10.40.
According to sources cited by The Globe And Mail, BlackBerry has turned down several potential suitors in recent months because the board and major shareholders have faith in CEO John Chen’s turnaround plan. Some of the bids have been of a similar size to Samsung’s alleged proposal, but the board believes they undervalue the company, the sources said.
BlackBerry is trying desperately to stay afloat after being left behind in the smartphone market by the likes of Samsung, Apple, Xiaomi and Huawei.
Chen is has refocused the company on its core enterprise customer base, and begun to work collaboratively with rivals like Samsung on mobile device management (MDM) and security solutions for corporate clients.
In addition, its last two devices, the BlackBerry Passport, and the BlackBerry Classic, were well-received at launch.
In December, BlackBerry reported a significant improvement in earnings for the three months to 30 November, but revenue was down sharply.
The company narrowed its operating loss to $139 million from $5 billion a year earlier. However, revenue fell to $793 million from $1.2 billion, well short of expectations.
