BlackBerry maker haggles Millennial Media for a lower price

For a current market leader, Research In Motion Ltd. (RIMM) finds itself behind its competitors in the smart phone space far too often.
It only recently caught up with practically every other smart phone maker on the planet and released a modern browser of the WebKit-based variety. The BlackBerry maker acquired Torch Mobile last year to make that happen, and then it took a year to actually happen.
Now RIM is looking to buy a mobile ad network, according to The Wall Street Journal. Google Inc. (GOOG) kicked off the ad network buying spree last November when it acquired AdMob for $750 million. Apple Inc. (AAPL) went on to buy Quattro Wireless two months later for a reported $275 million.
Unnamed sources tell the Journal that RIM has been holding talks with Millennial Media. Such a pairing would follow most logic, considering the Baltimore-based company is one of the largest remaining independent mobile ad networks around.
Though since the jury’s still out on whether Google overpaid to make the first move with its AdMob buy, it’s not surprising that RIM and Millennial Media are having some disagreements over price. RIM isn’t interested in paying Millennial’s asking price of $400 million to $500 million, according to the Journal.
Despite losing market share to its rivals that already own and are launching mobile ad networks optimized for their operating systems, it seems RIM is simply unwilling to overpay. While smart phone players like RIM, Apple and Google could all end up pulling tremendous value out of their mobile advertising initiatives, the current path they’re on doesn’t necessarily lead to riches. Then again, what might RIM lose down the road if it waits and lets this opportunity pass it by?
Whether he was posturing or not earlier this month, Millennial Media’s CEO Paul Palmieri said the company was heading for an initial public offering. Just how much might RIM pay to keep that from happening?