Rumours of a potential takeover of smartphone strugglers BlackBerry have boosted its share price by 14%
BlackBerry's shares rose 14% on Monday (11 March) stoked by takeover speculation by Lenovo and news that AT&T will begin selling the new BlackBerry Z10 touchscreen smartphone in the US later this month.
The speculation on a takeover was sparked by comments from Lenovo's head of China, Yan Yuanquin, who told a French newspaper his company might consider acquiring the Canadian smartphone maker BlackBerry at 'some point in the future'.
Yuanquin was quoted by Reuters as saying external growth remains a question of opportunities, he said: "As for BlackBerry, the file could eventually make sense, but I must first analyse the market and understand the exact weight of this company.
Yuanquin's statements echoed the comments made in January by Lenovo chief financial officer Wong Wai Ming, who told Bloomberg the company was 'looking at all opportunities' including BlackBerry.
Last month, a US securities filing revealed BlackBerry former co-CEO Jim Balsillie has sold his remaining shares in the Canadian smartphone manufacturing firm.
Balsillie was one of BlackBerry's two largest shareholders, with a stake of about 5.1%, as of 31 December 2012.
The smartphone maker is also considering licensing its new BlackBerry 10 operating system to other phone manufacturers as part of
ongoing efforts to recover market share lost to rivals Apple.
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