Is BlackBerry About to be Sold?

For at least three years, there have been rumors that make BlackBerry Ltd BBRY a perennial takeover candidate. In 2013, CEO Thorsten Heins was even vocal about his desire to sell the company - working a $56 million parachute into his contract if there was a change of control. Since that was unsuccessful, the stock has lingered - moving up and down with the most-recent rumors.

Most recently, rumors resurfaced that Microsoft Corporation MSFT might be interested in the company. The rumors suggest that Microsoft may be willing to pay between $6 and $7 billion for the company, a per-share price of between $11 and $13. Microsoft had reportedly retained Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs to conduct due diligence and value the company.

Shares of Blackberry initially spiked on Friday, before falling off in the past two trading sessions as the rumors failed to materialize.

There are also continual rumors that SAMSUNG ELECT LTD SSNLF or Google Inc GOOG might also be interested. In January, the stock soared 30 percent following a Reuters report that Samsung made a $7.5 billion offer. The report was quickly dismissed. Dating back to 2013, there have been separate rumors that Cisco Systems, Inc. CSCO, SAP SE SAP or Intel Corporation INTC were all interested.

Rumors also swirled last year that a Chinese computer manufacturer, like Lenovo, might be interested in BlackBerry. However, CEO John Chen said at the time that the company was likely prohibited from selling to a Chinese company.

Year to date, BlackBerry is down 7.8 percent and sharply off its 52-week high above $12.