BlackBerry hasn't even released its latest phone in the United States yet, but there's at least one company already mulling an acquisition: Lenovo.
The Chinese computer manufacturer made waves on Monday when CEO Yang Yuanqing told Les Echoes that Lenovo will consider purchasing Canadian-based BlackBerry if the move fits in with the company's overall strategy.
Buying BlackBerry "could possibly make sense, but first I need to analyze the market and understand what exactly the importance of this company is," said Yang, according to Bloomberg Businessweek.
The comments were greeted positively at the stock market, where BlackBerry shares rose by nearly 10 percent as the news circulated.
Back in January, Lenovo's Chief Financial Officer Wong Wai Ming made comments similar to Yang when he declared that the company was "looking at all opportunities," including an acquisition of BlackBerry.
Canada's pride and joy has yet to comment on Yang's statement, but the original reply by Wong caused BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins to wonder why the possibility even came up. Surprisingly, though, Heins never ruled out the scenario; he simply said he wouldn't talk about it until the time was right.
"As always with these topics, we will talk about things when they are ready to be talked about and ready to be announced," Heins said in a January interview. "There are other constituents in the process that need to be involved — if there would be anything."
"Other constituents" could possibly mean the Canadian government, which would be required to sign off on the takeover of BlackBerry by a foreign operation. As Bloomberg said, the government must review all takeovers involving more than $335 million in order to decide whether or not the purchase would be a "net benefit" to Canada.
We might hear more about a possible purchase on March 28, when BlackBerry releases its quarterly results and updates its strategic review. Heins has been open to an acquisition before, though he's also stated a preference for establishing licensing deals.
