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BlackBerry executives met Facebook to gauge interest in potential bid: Report

BlackBerry executives met Facebook to gauge interest in potential bid: Report

By Anupam Saxena | Updated: 30 October 2013 13:16 IST

Ailing device-maker, BlackBerry, has been linked with a number of possible suitors, after it put itself up for sale. The latest to join the ranks is none other than leading social networking platform, Facebook, if a new report is to be believed.

BlackBerry executives have conducted a meeting with Facebook, last week, to check if the social giant was interested in bidding for the Waterloo based device maker, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal, that cites people familiar with the matter as the source for the information. It's not clear whether Facebook has shown interest in a potential bid, adds the report.

Of late, Facebook has denied working on a separate smartphone platform, and had instead released an Android-based launcher for popular smartphones, called Facebook Home, that brought deep integration with the social network, in addition to partnering with HTC to launch a smartphone that offered the experience, out of the box.

BlackBerry had also said that it was moving its focus to business and government sectors from the consumer segment. It could be possible that Facebook's mainly interested in the company's mobile patents or even its popular BlackBerry Messenger service, which has now been made cross platform. Facebook competes with BBM with its Facebook Messenger app.

Earlier, Chinese computer maker Lenovo had also signed a non-disclosure deal to examine BlackBerry's books, however, regulatory obstacles were then quoted, with the Canadian government ready to veto any foreign acquisition for security concerns.

SAP, along with Cisco Systems Inc and Google, were also linked with BlackBerry, considered to be some of its potential suitors. The SAP CFO however, later confirmed that BlackBerry does not fit its strategy.

In September, BlackBerry announced that it had accepted a $4.7 billion buyout offer from a consortium led by its largest investor, Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited. A firm deal is expected to be announced on November 8, while BlackBerry had said it would continue looking for a better suitor in the interim.

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