Is Samsung planning on selling itself to BlackBerry? Those were the rumors going back as far as 2013 although last month, those rumors surfaced again. BlackBerry has since denied those rumors but despite their denial, it ultimately worked in their favor as the company’s stock price rose in the wake of those rumors.
As it turns out, stock market manipulation is heavily frowned upon, so much so that securities regulators in both the US and Canada are reported to have launched an investigation into the matter. This has not been officially announced but according to people familiar with the matter, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Ontario Securities Commission are said to be in the early stages of examining trading activity around the times of the rumor.
The rumor, for those who might have missed it, suggested that Samsung was interested in acquiring BlackBerry for as much as $7.5 billion. Given that BlackBerry is still recovering from their setback a few years ago, the idea of Samsung giving them $7.5 billion would no doubt go a long way in stemming their losses and possibly even rejuvenating the company, thus boosting investor confidence which ultimately raises the value of the company.
When the story broke, it was reported that BlackBerry’s shares jumped by as much as 4% and closed $10.09 which was higher than what the stock was worth prior to the story. It is unclear who the regulators are investigating, but either way we will be keeping our eyes peeled for more information.
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