New Lenovo BlackBerry Buyout Rumor Surfaces

The last time Lenovo was mentioned in a BlackBerry (BBRY) buyout rumor the mobile device maker still was known as Research in Motion. That was January, 2013 and much has transpired since for both companies.

New chatter now has emerged in a Benzinga report that Lenovo this week may offer BlackBerry a $15-a-share buyout proposal with possibilities the price could climb as high as $18 a share, according to a “source familiar with the matter.” BlackBerry issues currently trade hands at about $10 a share so a $15 a share price would give the mobile maker, which hasn’t seen much black ink on its balance sheet in a while, a whopping 50 percent premium on current share value.

Lenovo previously has been mentioned a number of times as a likely BlackBerry suitor and the Chinese PC maker, fresh off finalizing its acquisition of IBM’s (IBM) former x86 business, has yet to flat out deny its interest in the mobile device manufacturer.

But with Lenovo’s $2.91 billion buyout of Google’s (GOOG) Motorola Mobility business likely to finalize before the year is out, what would the Chinese PC maker want with the still unprofitable BlackBerry?

The last time Lenovo seriously considered making a bid for BlackBerry it was rebuffed by the Canadian government, which refused to sanction a takeover by the Chinese-owned company based on national security issues.

At the time, according to a report in the Toronto Globe and Mail, Lenovo wanted to put forward a formal proposal to buy BlackBerry but never followed through because Canadian government officials let it be known in talks with the mobile maker that a bid would not be welcomed.

This time around, neither Lenovo nor BlackBerry offered to shed any light on a possible buyout.

In a related move, last week Lenovo said it will open a new Internet of Things (IoT)-related company operating under a separate name and brand to develop and sell connected smart devices and services in China. The new business is slated to open its doors on April 1, 2015.

The vendor believes there’s a strong market opportunity in the consumer mobile device segment in China, not only for hardware but also for software and application development. Lenovo’s new company will exclusively focus on direct-to-consumer sales, marketing and product development using an internet-based business model.

Chen Xudong, currently president of Lenovo’s China geography and Asia Pacific–Emerging Markets unit, will serve as chief executive of the smart devices business. He is credited with building Lenovo’s China business in PCs, tablets and smartphones.