BlackBerry to buy competitor Good Technology for $425 mln (updated)

CytoMed Therapeutics

04/09/2015 13:52

(Adds further detail) 
    Sept 4 (Reuters) - BlackBerry Ltd  BB.TO  plans to acquire 
rival mobile software provider Good Technology for $425 million 
in cash, the Canadian smartphone company said on Friday, 
boosting its ability to help companies manage smartphones that 
run any operating system. 
    BlackBerry said it expects to realize about $160 million in 
revenue from the acquisition in the first year once the deal 
closes.  ID:nMKWR3cLCa  
    Waterloo, Ontario-based BlackBerry pioneered smartphones, 
but after losing ground to Apple Inc  AAPL.O  and Samsung 
electronics Co  005930.KS , the company is shifting its focus to 
providing software and services for enterprise customers. 
    Relations between BlackBerry and Good have been tense at 
times. In January 2015, after Good announced a new system that 
would make it possible to measure a smartphone user's personal 
and business data usage, BlackBerry posted a version of Good's 
release that it had annotated with red ink, questioning its 
novelty and promoting its own, competing service. 
    "We are in an incredibly competitive market and speak to 
many of the same customers. What has been clear throughout has 
been that Good and BlackBerry share similar philosophies," said 
Good Chief Executive Christy Wyatt in an interview posted on 
BlackBerry's news site on Friday. 
    J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and Bank of America Merrill Lynch 
advised Good on the deal, BlackBerry said.  
    The company said it expects the deal to close late in its 
fiscal third quarter, which runs through late November. 
    BlackBerry's U.S.-listed shares were up 3 percent at $7.68 
in premarket trading.  
 
 (Reporting by Anannya Pramanick in Bengaluru and Allison 
Martell in Toronto; Editing by Anil D'Silva and Chizu Nomiyama) 
 ((anannya.pramanick@thomsonreuters.com; within U.S. +1 646 223 
8780, outside U.S. +91 80 6749 3143 ; Reuters Messaging: 
anannya.pramanick.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: GOODTECHNOLOGY M&A/BLACKBERRY