Analyst: Palm a 'strategic fit' for Motorola

Nokia Oyj and Motorola Inc. are among mobile-phone makers that would derive the most strategic benefit from acquiring Palm Inc., Morgan Stanley said.

Palm may also be a "strategic fit" for Research In Motion Ltd. and HTC Corp., Morgan Stanley analysts including Ehud Gelblum wrote in a report yesterday. Microsoft Corp., Dell Inc., Samsung Electronics Co., Lenovo Group Ltd., and LG Electronics Inc. are "possible but likely less interested" suitors for Palm, according to the report.

Palm, creator of the Pre smartphone, is working with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Frank Quattrone's Qatalyst Partners to find a buyer, three people familiar with the situation said this week. The Sunnyvale, California-based company is the developer of the WebOS software that competes against mobile operating systems from Google Inc. and Apple Inc.

"We believe the potential ownership of WebOS would create a more defendable and viable long-term mobile devices business" for Motorola, the Morgan Stanley report said. Acquiring Palm will allow Nokia to offer WebOS-based devices in addition to products based on its Symbian platform, according to the report.

Research In Motion, maker of the BlackBerry smartphone, and Taoyuan, Taiwan-based HTC may be interested in buying Palm to gain access to the U.S. company's patent portfolio, according to Morgan Stanley.

Chen Lei, a Beijing-based spokesman at Motorola, Katie Lee, a Hong Kong-based spokeswoman at Research In Motion, and Marty Filipowski, a spokesman at Dell, said the companies don't comment on market speculation.

Chen Hui-Ming, chief financial officer of HTC, and Lenovo CFO Wong Wai Ming declined this week to confirm or deny their company's interest in Palm. Lynn Fox, a Palm spokeswoman, Arja Suominen, a Nokia spokeswoman, and Samsung spokesman James Chung this week declined to comment. LG Electronics isn't interested in buying Palm, spokeswoman Sally Lee said on April 12.