Harper's comments make RIM takeover unlikely, say analysts

Prime Minister Stephen Harper's comments that he wants Research In Motion to keep growing as a Canadian company would make a hostile takeover of the market-share losing BlackBerry maker more unlikely, analysts said Monday.

The prime minister recently told Reuters news agency that he wants to see the "company succeed and continue to grow as a Canadian company."

"A hostile takeover is not very likely to go through based on what Harper has said," said telecom analyst Troy Crandall.

"It really could have an important impact on the economy if it were to be bought and suddenly all of the jobs went somewhere else, or if the majority of those jobs went somewhere else," said Crandall of Montreal-based MacDougall, MacDougall & MacTier private investment company.

"It would fall on the politician that allowed it to happen."

Harper singled out hostile takeovers and bids for what he described as "critical technology" companies as the ones his Conservative government might block.

Research In Motion has been the subject of takeover rumours for months with suitors including online retailer Amazon.com, consumer electronics company Samsung as well as software giant Microsoft and mobile phone company Nokia.

So far, no potential domestic buyers have emerged.

RIM has been losing market share in the lucrative American market as consumers and some companies have turned to Apple's iPhone and Google's Android-powered smartphones.

'A hostile takeover is not very likely to go through based on what Harper has said' Troy Crandall, MacDougall, McDougall & MacTier

To counter losses in the U.S. market, Research In Motion has launched a new marketing campaign to attract more consumers. Analysts also say its international market share will also start to erode.

The Waterloo, Ont. company recently replaced long-time co-CEOs Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis with its chief operating officer Thorsten Heins in an attempt to turn around its market share and successfully launch the next generation of its BlackBerry smartphones later this year.

Benj Gallander, president of Contra The Heard Investment Letter, said Harper's comments may make it more difficult for a suitor outside Canada to acquire RIM.

"A lot of organizations would be less likely to do it thinking that the government might step in and say, 'Sorry, this just isn't going to happen,"' Gallander said from Toronto.

"In terms of what Stephen Harper has said, I think it's fantastic if he starts limiting these foreign takeovers as a general rule," he said.