Samsung Electronics recently offered to buy BlackBerry Ltd for as much as $7.5 billion, seeking its valuable patents as it battles Apple in the corporate market, according to a person familiar with the matter and documents seen by Reuters.

South Korea’s Samsung proposed an initial price range of $13.35 to $15.49 per share, representing a premium of 38 per cent to 60 per cent over BlackBerry’s current trading price, the source said.

Representatives from the two companies, which are working with advisers, met last week to discuss a potential transaction, the source said, asking not to be identified because the conversations are private.

The Waterloo, Ontario-based company said in a statement that it “has not engaged in discussions with Samsung with respect to any possible offer to purchase BlackBerry.

Shares of BlackBerry, which soared nearly 30 per cent following the Reuters report, fell back about 15 per cent in after-hours electronic trading following the statement.

Samsung also told Reuters in Seoul that it has no plans to acquire Blackberry.

“Media reports of the acquisition are groundless,” a company spokeswoman said.

Separately on Wednesday, Canadian newspaper Globe and Mail reported BlackBerry has shunned a handful of takeover overtures in recent months as its board and largest investor think its restructuring strategy will deliver greater shareholder value than current acquisition offers.

The board believes offering prices, some in excess of $7 billion, fall well below BlackBerry’s potential asset value in the next few years, according to the Globe and Mail report.

BlackBerry, a one-time investor darling that pioneered smartphones, has regained some of its lost swagger under chief executive John Chen, who is leading a bid to regain market share it has lost to Apple Inc., Google Inc and Samsung.

“BlackBerry is in such transition today, so any investment has been a bet on the future, so at this point Samsung is cutting in before that full future becomes a reality,” said Morningstar analyst Brian Colello.

Samsung’s strength as the No. 1 global smartphone marker has been built on making devices for the consumer market, which has become crowded in recent years.

With a takeover of BlackBerry, Samsung could make greater inroads into the corporate market, where it has trailed rivals.

BlackBerry’s secure networks manage the e-mail traffic of thousands of large corporate customers, along with government and military agencies across the globe.

BlackBerry still holds considerable sway among enterprise clients for its strong security features ­– with US President Barack Obama still using one of the company’s devices after taking office.

Ross Healy, a portfolio manager at MacNicol & Associates, which owns a small stake in BlackBerry, said Samsung’s reported offer undervalues the company.

That would be a real coup for Samsung

“To get a hold of the BlackBerry network and all its secure features, that would be a real coup for Samsung, looking to differentiate themselves from Apple and from others,” he said.

BlackBerry’s patent portfolio is composed of roughly 44,000 patents, worth more than $1.43 billion in net book value as of August last year, although many analysts think they could be worth much more.

In the third quarter, revenue at BlackBerry, which is increasingly focusing on providing services like secure corporate networks, fell to $793 million from $1.19 billion a year earlier, falling short of analysts’ expectations of $931.5 million.

The offer price would imply an enterprise value of $6 billion to $7.5 billion for BlackBerry, assuming conversion of $1.25 billion of convertible debt, according to the documents.

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