Lenovo is considering buying the BlackBerry - Techworld

information was published by The Wall Street Journal, citing “sources familiar with the matter.” According to the newspaper, uas companies have signed confidentiality agreement

Chinese giant Lenovo is considering to bid to buy the maker of BlackBerry smartphones, according to an article published on Thursday, 17/10, The Wall Street Journal. The newspaper cited “sources familiar with the matter” to inform that Lenovo has reportedly signed a nondisclosure agreement (NDA) with the Blackberry to begin examining the financial documents of the Canadian company.

BlackBerry would not comment directly on the report, stating only that a special committee formed to examine the future of the company, is seeking “strategic alternatives.” “We do not intend to disclose data on the evolution of the process until we have approved a specific transaction or eventually finished reviewing strategic alternatives,” the company said in a statement released today.

company put on the market in search of a buyer this summer, after the launch of the BlackBerry 10 operating system and the new line of smartphones failed to attract users. Despite having large base of corporate and government customers using the platform, the Blackberry is the “flashlight” market, after Android, Apple iOS and Windows Phone.

large base of corporate users is a risk for a possible agreement with Lenovo, because the operation would only be approved after passing the scrutiny of regulators in the market. In the case of Lenovo, the fact the company is based in China is especially tricky. Last year, the Senate Intelligence Committee suggested that the use of telecommunications equipment and networks produced by the companies ZTE and Huawei could pose a threat to national security in the U.S..

So far two other groups have shown interest in BlackBerry. One of them, Fairfax Financial Holdings, has made a preliminary offer of $ 4.7 billion to buy a BlackBerry but the discussion is still ongoing. Recently, one of the founders of BlackBerry, Mike Lazaridis, announced it is working with a group interested in buying the company.

* With reporting by Martyn Williams – IDG News Service