Report: Lenovo Could Buy BlackBerry

Possible deal with Chinese tech company

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Associated Press

After putting itself up for sale in August, BlackBerry reportedly has a new interested buyer: Chinese tech behemoth Lenovo.

The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed sources familiar with the situation, reports that Lenovo is considering a bid to purchase the entirety of BlackBerry, the struggling handset maker that has seen its share of the market for smartphones plummet. Once the hottest hand in mobile devices, BlackBerry has seen its market share of smartphones dwindle to around 3% as Google and Apple have risen.

Previous reports from Bloomberg and Reuters indicated that companies including SAP, Cisco, Samsung, and Google have been interested in buying BlackBerry in parts. Aside from devices, the company makes operating systems for distributed systems. Other interested parties reportedly include BlackBerry co-founder Mike Lazaridis and Cerberus Capital Management LP. BlackBerry and Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd., one of the company’s biggest shareholders, reached a preliminary buyout deal of $4.7 billion last month.

Neither BlackBerry nor Lenovo commented to the Journal.

[WSJ]