Earlier this year, Lenovo (LNVGY) CFO Wong Wai Ming casually mentioned a potential buyout of BlackBerry as a way to boost the company’s mobile business. The executive explained that Lenovo had been in talks with the struggling phone maker and its bankers “about various combinations or strategic ventures,” and that Lenovo even had “a team working on possible acquisitions.” Ming’s comments spread across the Web and within days the company was forced to clarify that Wong was merely speaking broadly on the subject. Even before the comments, however, analysts and Wall Street investors believed Lenovo could be a good suitor for BlackBerry (BBRY). This time around when speaking about a potential acquisition, Lenovo’s chief executive made sure to choose his words wisely.
In an interview with French publication Les Echos, Lenovo CEO Yang Yuanqing said that a BlackBerry buyout could “possibly make sense,” although he would first have to “analyze the market well and understand what is the exact weight of this company.”
The executive went on to explain that a company cannot merely rely on external growth and acquisitions to develop. He said that Lenovo will continue to rely primarily on its own products for its success. Yang noted, however, that he will remain “vigilant on the market and its players.”
