BlackBerry may not have looked quite tempting enough back in early 2013, but the Canadian tech company's mild resurgence may have made it attractive enough to draw a bid from Lenovo.
Since John Chen took over the reins of BlackBerry as CEO in late 2013, the smartphone vendor has been pulling out of its nose dive and has even enjoyed some moderate success in its once-dominant handsets division. While only offering a modest supply of its square-faced Passport smartphones, the handset sold out in short order.
With BlackBerry no longer bleeding losses through its pores, a unnamed source told Berzinga that Lenovo is preparing to make an offer for the Canadian company. The source said Lenovo is likely to start with an offer at around $15 per share, but would be willing to wrap up a deal at around $18 per.
Lenovo looked into acquiring BlackBerry in January 2013. Back then, Lenovo Chief Financial Officer Wong Wai Ming took note of BlackBerry's persistent value, as Apple's handset continued to surge.
"We are looking at all opportunities -- RIM and many others," said Ming at that time. "We'll have no hesitation if the right opportunity comes along that could benefit us and shareholders." BlackBerry formally changed its name to its iconic product from its former Research in Motion (RIM) moniker in mid-2013.
Around the time Lenovo began looking into aligning itself with BlackBerry in some form, Michael Genovese, an analyst with MKM Partners in Connecticut, indicated the tech firm would need to give up on its handsets division to attract an offer from the Chinese PC manufacturer.
"If and when RIM decides that it doesn't want to be in hardware anymore, Lenovo would be the perfect choice to sell that hardware business to, but I think we're several quarters away," said Genovese.
Well, several quarters later, BlackBerry has tempered its expectations on delivering hardware and has taken a more targeted approach to moving units of its handsets. The company celebrated its sellout of 200,000 BlackBerry Passports, while CEO Chen heralded the end of the company's restructuring phase and the start of its era of growth.
Just a few days before rumors of Lenovo's intent to acquire BlackBerry surfaced, the PC manufacturer announced it will launch a new sector in April 2015 that will focus on Internet-reliant handhelds. While BlackBerry has celebrated the small win with its modest shipments of Passport devices, a relationship with Lenovo may be the bigger victory.
