RIM share plunge could prompt Microsoft bid

[CoolCatBad]

http://www.forbes.com/reuters/feeds/reuter...R-ANALYSIS.html

http://finance.google.com/finance?client=news&q=RIMM

TORONTO (Reuters) - The recent plunge in the market value of BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (nasdaq: RIMM - news - people ) could leave the company vulnerable to a takeover from a well-capitalized buyer such as Microsoft Corp.

RIM's shares, which were worth more than $148 on the Nasdaq market just four months ago, now are trading around the $60 mark amid the U.S. financial crisis and margin pressures the company is experiencing because of expenses related to launching new smartphones.

"RIM is a massive strategic fit" for Microsoft, said Canaccord Adams analyst Peter Misek. "I'm fairly certain they have a standing offer to buy them at $50 (a share)."

In that scenario, RIM would have to continue declining to at least $40, thus allowing an offer of $50 to stand as a premium bid.

At current levels of $60 a share, RIM has a market value of about $34 billion. An offer of $50 a share would value the company at just over $28 billion.

[+Mystic MVC]

Arg! I just got my first Blackberry a couple months ago and love it. Microsoft please stay away. :D

[crazzy88ss]

oh man i hope not!

[d3nuo]

hmm not good. this is one of the few companies that i hope doesn't go into Microsoft unless it's that or close. they're a good company in my opinion (despite the fact that i don't currently own nor have i ever owned a RIM product, although i am considering the Storm.) hopefully their stock goes back up!

[Digitalx]

microsoft aren't really interested in mobile hardware as they state over and over so i would reckon it's unlikely

[Tech Star]

microsoft aren't really interested in mobile hardware as they state over and over so i would reckon it's unlikely

They already bought Danger (makers of Sidekick), why not RIM?

Anyways as for the shares, the market is going down. RIM and every company should expect their stock price go down.

[L3thal Veteran]

Why are "analysts" making rumors like this? Microsoft is not going to bid for RIM or anyone else. They just announced a $40b buyback on their shares which will see Microsoft borrowing money for the first time in ages to finance the buyback.

Microsoft is clearly spending its money on itself and they will not bid for RIM. He states that RIM is a "massive strategic fit" for Microsoft but does not explain why. He is a moron and knows nothing.

[#Michael]

Why are "analysts" making rumors like this? Microsoft is not going to bid for RIM or anyone else. They just announced a $40b buyback on their shares which will see Microsoft borrowing money for the first time in ages to finance the buyback.

Microsoft is clearly spending its money on itself and they will not bid for RIM. He states that RIM is a "massive strategic fit" for Microsoft but does not explain why. He is a moron and knows nothing.

So you are telling me that you are better educated on the market than an analyst working at Forbes. I highly doubt it and you made me really laugh at the statement. But I do agree that it would be a good fit. Microsoft has stated that they want to bring the zune interface to a phone. But they have no interested in building their own phones from scratch. What better way to do that then buy out a well known and very established company.

[basix]

mmmMMMmmm Zuneberry's!

[DreadBoat89]

Microsoft :heart: waterloo maybe?

[sourc3]

The reason RIM is a good fit for MS is the use of the Exchange Server. Exchange Server runs on Windows. That means licensing for two big server products. Hence the fit. Microsoft does not care about blackberry, blueberry, whatever device. And yes they are buying back their own shares. Which is a good indicator that Microsoft thinks they will be making some good profit in the years to come. Instead of distributing part of the profit as dividends, they will be able to plow back more of that money back into business. This is usually a good sign of confidence on the company's part.

[suicide_pact]

I can just see every time I reboot my BB having to wait to make sure my copy of BB is valid. And then of course if there's a problem the message will be to call Microsoft, meanwhile they'll have your phone locked so you can't make calls.

[basix]

I can just see every time I reboot my BB having to wait to make sure my copy of BB is valid. And then of course if there's a problem the message will be to call Microsoft, meanwhile they'll have your phone locked so you can't make calls.

Yes because this is already standard practice within the already huge clientbase of winmobile devices. Not! Even with modded ROMS floating in the wild MS has no interest in your theories. You should be more worried about the next BB service outage :whistle:

[Cormier6083]

What is Apple bought RIM? :o

Highly unlikely. :p

[basix]

What is Apple bought RIM? :o

RIM would do Apple a favour and code a Copy and Paste function for them :yes:

[Cormier6083]

RIM would do Apple a favour and code a Copy and Paste function for them :yes:

Oh snap!

[L3thal Veteran]

So you are telling me that you are better educated on the market than an analyst working at Forbes. I highly doubt it and you made me really laugh at the statement.

Oh yes, because we all know analysts know everything. Just like the idiot at Goldman Sachs that downgraded the whole steel sector yesterday after the sector has lost 70% of its value in the past 2 months. Lets not mention they rated the whole sector a buy in July when commodities hit a top and now they are downgrading it when we are about to hit a bottom. Very smart, eh?

If you follow the stock market and have half a brain, you will know that a lot of analysts know nothing (notice I said a lot, not all). Just this Wednesday a Citi analyst downgraded GM. Where the hell was this analyst for the past year? He was recommending it in the 40's and 30's and now he downgrades it to a sell when GM is at $5. If you followed these idiots and their recommendations, you would be selling GM at a 80% loss and the steel sector at a 70% loss.

Need I say more?

[qdave]

actually i think it would be quite nice if MS would buy RIM. blackberry with win mobile (Y)

[Cormier6083]

actually i think it would be quite nice if MS would buy RIM. blackberry with win mobile (Y)

:x

[GNRambo]

What is Apple bought RIM? :o

Highly unlikely. :p

Then every couple hours there will be a newly released blackberry :p :devil:

[Sartoris]

actually i think it would be quite nice if MS would buy RIM. blackberry with win mobile (Y)

Blackberry OS > Windows moblie.

[vip]

actually i think it would be quite nice if MS would buy RIM. blackberry with win mobile (Y)

that would be horrible, RIM OS is faster than winmo ... and this is coming from someone who has both ... :(