South Korean electronics giant Samsung today denied a report that it is in takeover talks with smartphone maker BlackBerry in a deal estimated at $7.5 billion.

“It is not true,” a Samsung representative told Korean news agencies.

BlackBerry also denied the report, saying on its website it “has not engaged in discussions with Samsung with respect to any possible offer”.

Reuters yesterday reported that executives from the two firms held discussions on a potential deal last week and that Samsung made an offer to buy BlackBerry for $13.35-15.49 per share.

BlackBerry’s shares increased nearly 30 per cent ($2.89) Wednesday to close at $12.60 but fell 14 per cent in after-hours trading after it denied the report.

At CES in Las Vegas last week BlackBerry CEO John Chen said the company is no longer in financial troubles, around a year after he took the helm.

“We’ve still got a lot of work to do, obviously, but the most important thing is that for the year that has passed, I hope that everybody agrees the company is no longer in financial trouble. We’re here to stay – now the fun part starts,” he told a media briefing at CES.

Last month the company reported lower revenue for the period ending 30 November, but managed to reduce its net loss for the period. It had a GAAP net loss of $148 million, which was less than the prior quarter’s $207 million and considerably lower than the $4.4 billion loss in the equivalent quarter in 2013. The company did however achieve a non-GAAP profit of $6 million.

Revenue was $793 million, which was down from $1.19 billion in Q3 FY2014 and the $916 million reported in the previous quarter.

Chen said in a LinkedIn post in early December that the company was developing a well-thought out plan for China, but it wouldn’t include a takeover. In November he met with the heads of Xiaomi and Lenovo in Beijing to discuss ways to partner to speed up its expansion into China.