Business outlets were abuzz Wednesday evening when Reuters reported that Samsung placed an offer on the table to purchase BlackBerry. A source close to the situation told the newswire that Samsung is offering between $13.35 and $15.49 per share, or $7.5 billion, to buy BlackBerry, primarily for its suite of patents.
On late Wednesday evening, BlackBerry denied the reports, which sent its stocks tumbling 17 percent during the Thursday morning trading session – it soared 30 percent after the report.
“BlackBerry has not engaged in discussions with Samsung with respect to any possible offer to purchase BlackBerry,” the company said in a statement. “BlackBerry’s policy is not to comment on rumors or speculation, and accordingly it does not intend to comment further.”
Soon after this confirmation, the South Korea-based Samsung also dismissed the rumors of a potential takeover.
Despite the various denials of any such acquisition, Reuters stood by its reporting and noted that executives of both companies met last week. It was further reported by the Globe and Mail that BlackBerry has shot down many offers from companies to purchase the Canadian smartphone maker.
It should be noted that CEO John Chen was asked if he would accept an offer from a firm if they slapped down $15 per share. Chen replied that it would be immensely undervalued and the company would reject it.
The reason why Samsung may want to buy BlackBerry is because it wants to have greater access to the corporate market. Right now, Samsung is in an incredible position in the consumer market, but because BlackBerry is the gold standard for mobile security, which is used by government officials and corporate executives, Samsung wants its portfolio.
Samsung and BlackBerry have worked together in the past. In November, both sides announced a partnership that would see BlackBerry collaborate with Samsung to coalesce its Enterprise technology with Galaxy smartphones and the Knox security platform.
Samsung shares started the Thursday trading session up nearly 14 percent.
