BlackBerry’s acquisition by Samsung

: mergers & acquisitions

Abstract

The main purpose of this dissertation is to study a recent market rumor about BlackBerry’s acquisition by the rival company Samsung and whether this deal would be good for both parties. The main goal is not only to understand if they will have a higher value together but also to understand how this Merger & Acquisition (M&A) deal would affect the entire industry. In a recent past, Samsung was discussing with Apple the leadership of the market. They had big judicial fights related with patent’s issues and Samsung was fined in millions of dollars. Moreover, a few years ago BlackBerry was one of the market leaders mainly due to the features they offered to executive clients, which were very exclusive and that made them leaders in the corporate segment. They also have a valuable portfolio with more than forty four thousand patents. Therefore, this deal looks like a perfect “marriage” between the two giants in an industry that is very aggressive regarding competition, requiring huge investments and where every detail counts. In the end I present a confrontation between the acquisition scenario that was rumored by the press in past January, and the actual scenario of partnerships taking place between Samsung and BlackBerry.

Date of Award	4 Nov 2015
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	António Borges de Assunção (Supervisor)