“Shares of Research in Motion Ltd. vaulted briefly to a record in U.S. trading Thursday on speculation that the Canadian maker of the BlackBerry handheld device could be bought by Microsoft Corp.,” Roma Luciw and Tavia Grant report for The Globe and Mail Update.
“Although the chatter was met with much skepticism, a number of wire stories and market blogs mentioned rumours that the world’s largest software company was eyeing an acquisition of Waterloo, Ont.-based RIM,” Luciw and Grant report.
Luciw and Grant report, “Timothy Ghriskey, chief investment officer at Solaris Asset Management LLC, said the RIM-Microsoft rumour filtered its way to his desk in Bedford Hills, N.Y. ‘Yes, I have heard that. But I hear lots of rumours,’ he said. ‘I just think it is very unlikely that Microsoft would buy this company. It would be so out of character for them to do something like this.'”
Luciw and Grant report, “Rob Sanderson, an analyst with American Technology Research, said that despite nearly two decades of such rumours, Microsoft did its first big deal ever this year when it acquired Seattle-based online marketing firm aQuantive Inc. for $6-billion (U.S.). ‘RIM’s market cap is more than $6-billion, a lot more than that. And certainly, the founders of RIM and key investors believe it is worth a lot more,’ Mr. Sanderson said. ‘RIM has gotten so big that it would be very difficult for anyone to acquire it now. Even Microsoft.'”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Patrice” for the heads up.]
“It would be so out of character for them to do something like this.'”
The Microsoft crime organization is desperate, their operating system monopoly is creaking with their latest junk, their Office near monopoly is under threat from open formats, everything else they have tried has failed. So what to do?
Spend the money quickly on something that really does have some value before the share price tanks and everything else with it.
A little too late, if true.
It’s sad to think of the people that might loose their RIM jobs. 🙁
That lump would be to big to swallow even for MSFT.
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RIMM Market Cap: 47 Billion.
Shareholders would revolt quickly.
A giant burning-money festival.
But it would be good for iPhone
As I said before…
Microsoft Research in Standstill
I think the rumor is a plant only meant to try to manipulate stock prices and investment portfolio recommendations.
It would be a conspiracy theory only if MS wasn’t a despicable and ruthless monopoly.
Microsoft buying RIM would be a sure way to a dead end…
IN RECORD TIME I MIGHT ADD…
If I was RIM I would give the company to Apple before I sold it to the likes of M$$$$$$$$$…
lets hope the get a good rimming….