Lenovo downplays RIM acquisition story

Lenovo CFO Wong Waiming last week suggested that the Chinese company was open to the idea of acquiring Research In Motion in an effort to grow its mobile business as PC sales slow down. A statement sent to TheNextWeb by the company today suggests that certain statements may have been taken out context during the Bloomberg interview. Lenovo explains that Waiming’s comments were meant to be more general in scope:

In general, we do not comment on M&A rumors or speculation.

We are aware that Lenovo’s CFO [Wong] Waiming was speaking broadly about M&A strategy in a recent interview. RIM was raised as a potential target by the journalist and Mr. Wong repeatedly answered in a manner consistent with all of our previous statements on M&A strategy: Lenovo is very focused on growing its business, both organically and through M&A. When inorganic ideas arise, we explore them to see if there is a strategic fit.

With RIM open to various options to “create new opportunities, focusing on areas where we will be more effective partnering rather than going it alone, and ultimately maximizing value for all stakeholders,” it is likely that some level of discussion is happening or has happened between interested parties (including Lenovo). Such talks are likely on the backburner this week as RIM prepares to launch its BlackBerry 10 devices on Wednesday.

Read more: TheNextWeb