No, Xiaomi's President Didn't Say He 'Will Acquire' BlackBerry

Another day, another Blackberry Ltd BBRY rumor. Comments from Xiaomi president Bin Lin on Wednesday sparked rumors that the Chinese firm would be acquiring BlackBerry. A post by the executive on Weibo, according to Google Translate, seemed to say that his company "will acquire Blackberry." BGR reported, however, that the original post actually came from another Weibo user who stated the acquisition as a fact. Bin Lin simply responded to the message by saying that his company "[does] not pass rumors." Shares of BlackBerry responded on Thursday morning. Shares spiked to a high of $9.94 around 10:04 a.m. ET. Indeed, the deal would have been unlikely even if the rumors about Bin Lin's comments were true. As BGR noted, BlackBerry still handles secure communications operations for several western governments, including the United States. These governments would be loath to let BlackBerry hand the reigns over to Chinese control. Last year, when rumors surfaced that Chinese company Huawei was interested in absorbing the mobile phone maker, U.S. and Canadian officials said they would not approve such a deal. BlackBerry has been at the center of many M&A rumors over the past few years. Obviously, none have come true. Shares traded recently at $9.78, up $0.07.