Business

BlackBerry plunges after shooting down takeover report

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Published Jan. 15, 2015, 10:17 a.m. ET

Samsung isn’t juicing BlackBerry’s stock.

Shares of BlackBerry plunged more than 16 percent Thursday morning after it shot down rumors that Samsung was interested in buying the beleaguered mobile phone maker.

Reuters reported on Wednesday that Samsung was considering a roughly $7.5 billion takeover offer for BlackBerry. Blackberry’s share price jumped nearly 30 percent to close at $12.60, before dropping in late trading on the company’s denials.

“BlackBerry has not engaged in discussions with Samsung with respect to any possible offer to purchase BlackBerry,” the company said in a statement on its site.

Samsung also reportedly said that the Reuters report was “groundless.”

The once-iconic smartphone giant has been losing market share to Apple, Google and Samsung. CEO John Chen has been trying to restore the company’s mojo by focusing on its core business customers.

The Toronto-based company recently rolled out the Classic, which comes with familiar features like physical keys and a trackball, to appeal to BlackBerry loyalists.