According to a report posted Tuesday by CBC News, the ailing smartphone manufacturer BlackBerry Ltd (BBRY), which tried to sell itself to Chinese computer maker Lenovo last year, received a firm ‘no’ when it approached the Canadian government to find out if the takeover would be approved.
Alleged interference of inter-company discussions by federal officials made it clear to BlackBerry executives, notes the report, “that either Chinese or Russian takeover would be met with stiff opposition, due to potential national security concerns”. Ottawa expressed concern about a Chinese party acquiring a company deeply tied into Canada’s telecom infrastructure.
The messages passed in the high-level discussions effectively stopped any further movement by Lenovo, which had reportedly signed a non-disclosure agreement to examine BlackBerry’s books, prompting Blackberry to quietly abandon the sale, the report said.
In August of last year, the company which pioneered mobile email, put itself up for sale. It was at that time Lenovo started inquiring about a potential sale.
BBRY was up fractionally in early Tuesday trading, gaining 3 cents to $9.40.
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