Report: Samsung denies RIM interest

Consumer electronics giant Samsung has denied rumors that the company will be buying ailing BlackBerry smartphone maker Research In Motion (RIM), according to Reuters.

The news wire reported on Tuesday that the Korean company had refuted claims from a tech blog that RIM was trying to sell itself to its rival. "We haven't considered acquiring the firm and are not interested in [buying RIM]," said Samsung spokesperson James Chung.

He added that the company had not been approached by the Canadian smartphone maker for a potential takeover bid.

The spokesperson was responding to a report on Tuesday from tech news blog BGR, which quoted sources saying RIM's co-CEO Jim Balsillie was "going hard after Samsung" to talk about selling the Canadian phone maker as a whole or parts of its divisions to the South Korean company. BGR also claimed that RIM has been considering licensing its software to other vendors.

Last week, RIM was reported to have hired investment bank Goldman Sachs to help it field potential buyouts. However, a source noted in the report that this does not mean a sale of the company would be happening any time soon. The company was also said to be considering changes to its top-level management, including separating the CEO and chairman roles that are currently held jointly by Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis.