BlackBerry and Samsung have both denied reports that they are in talks regarding a potential merger between the smartphone makers.
Reuters reported on Wednesday that Samsung has offered up to $7.5 billion to acquire BlackBerry – an up to 60% premium on the smartphone maker's current share price.
A $7.5 billion purchase would mark Samsung's most expensive acquisition. Its current record was an internal acquisition by the Samsung Group – Samsung Electronics paid $3.8 billion for a 36% stake in Samsung Mobile Display from Samsung SDI in 2012.
Samsung's low-end offer would meanwhile be a 37% premium on BlackBerry's trading price, according to the report.
But both Samsung and BlackBerry have dismissed the report, with Samsung stating that the claim is “bogus”, Bloombergsaid.
BlackBerry's new CEO John Chen is hard at work implementing his turnaround plan for the vendor, so may be unwilling to sell at this stage of the game.
A BlackBerry source interviewed by Bloomberg said investors would meanwhile want a far higher takeover price than the figures reported by Reuters.
The report also notes that any deal would require the approval of the Canadian government, which would have to determine whether the deal would represent a “net benefit” to Canada.