RIM falls as Lenovo cools takeover talk
LENOVO downplayed suggestions it was considering a takeover of Research in Motion (RIM) yesterday, sending shares in the BlackBerry maker down by almost eight per cent.
The Canadian firm was lifted last week when Lenovo, the Chinese computing giant, signalled a potential interest. Chief financial officer Wong Mai Ming had said Lenovo was “looking at all opportunities” including RIM.
However, Lenovo attempted to distance itself from the speculation yesterday, claiming Wong’s comments had been taken out of context. “We are aware that Lenovo’s CFO… was speaking broadly about M&A strategy in a recent interview,” the firm said yesterday.
“RIM was raised as a potential target by a journalist and Mr Wong repeatedly answered in a manner consistent with all of our previous statements on M&A strategy.”
Shares in RIM, which had risen above $18 on the supposed Lenovo interest, fell 7.75 per cent to $16.18 in New York yesterday.
The company will unveil its new BlackBerry 10 software tomorrow.