RESEARCH IN Motion’s enterprise-services unit has attracted the interest of IBM, according to two people familiar with the situation.
IBM made an informal approach about possibly acquiring the division, which operates a network of secure servers used to support RIM’s BlackBerry devices, said one of the people, who asked not to be named.
RIM shares rose as much as 9.2 per cent in early US trading.
No party had shown interest in buying all of RIM or the division that makes its phones, and the Canadian company was inclined to wait for the rollout of BlackBerry 10 phones next year before making any decisions on a sale, the person said, adding that no talks were currently under way.
RIM chief executive officer Thorsten Heins, who took charge in January, is trying to turn the company around after customers defected to Apple and Google’s Android system, triggering losses and declining sales.
Mr Heins has said he would prefer to find a partner or to license RIM’s system to other manufacturers, rather than pursuing a sale. An IBM spokesman declined to comment, as did a spokesman for RIM. – (Bloomberg)
