Smartphone giant Samsung has approached BlackBerry with a takeover bid worth up to $7.5 billion (around £5 billion), according to a Reuters report.
Sources claim executives from both firms, along with advisers, met as recently as last week in order to discuss the terms of a potential deal.
The report claims Samsung is offering up to 60 per cent more per share than the current trading price, valuing the company at $6 billion (which would result in a $7.5bn price, considering the firm’s debt).
A ‘person familiar with the matter’ told the news agency the Korean company is seeking an acquisition in order to take control of BlackBerry’s vast patent profile and boost its own mobile offerings.
At the time of writing neither company has commented on the reports, but the story was enough to sent the Canadian firm’s stock price up by almost a third on Wednesday.
BlackBerry is thought to have been up for grabs for a number of years now, following its slow withdrawal from the smartphone market. As yet the firm has failed reached an agreement with a host of interested parties.
This is a breaking story, so we’ll update this post if and when more news becomes available.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
