BlackBerry Scoops Up Cybersecurity Company Cylance For $1.4B

BlackBerry Ltd BB said Friday it reached an agreement to acquire Cylance, an artificial intelligence and cyber security leader.

What Happened

BlackBerry will pay $1.4 billion in cash and the assumption of unvested employee incentive awards to fully acquire the pioneer in applying artificial intelligence, algorithmic science, and machine learning to cyber security software, the companies said in a press release.

Cylance boasts 3,500 active enterprise customers, including more than 100 of the Fortune 500 companies that generates highly recurring revenue.

Why It's Important

According to a Gartner survey, security is the top barrier to IoT success while privacy concerns and potential risks and liabilities are cited as major concerns. Acquiring and implementing Cylance's products and technology within BlackBerry Spark will be "indispensable to realizing the Enterprise of Things," BlackBerry CEO John Chen said in the press release.

Cylance's expertise in artificial intelligence and cyber security will also complement BlackBerry's other product lines, including UEM and QNX.

"Our highly skilled cyber security workforce and market leadership in next-generation endpoint solutions will be a perfect fit within BlackBerry where our customers, teams and technologies will gain immediate benefits from BlackBerry's global reach," Cylance co-founder Stuart McClure said.

What's Next

The companies expect the transaction to close before the end of February 2019. The deal remains subject to customary regulatory approval and other closing conditions.

BlackBerry traded higher by 1 percent to $8.95 in Friday's pre-market session.

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