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The Canadian technology company, which dominated the smartphone
market a decade ago, has shifted to selling software to manage
mobile devices, as well as emerging areas like autonomous cars.
Privately owned Cylance uses machine learning to preempt
security breaches before they occur. Its applications seek to
block malware or infiltration attempts rather than react after a
breach.
Cylance, which has over 3,500 active enterprise customers, had
been considering filing for a stock market floatation, according
to a report in Business Insider. https://read.bi/2PuA7uN
"Cylance's leadership in artificial intelligence and
cybersecurity will immediately complement our entire portfolio,"
BlackBerry CEO John Chen said in a statement.
The California-based company's Chief Executive Stuart McClure,
in turn, said it would be able to leverage Blackberry's strength
in mobile communications and security to adapt its AI
technology.
Besides the $1.4 billion that BlackBerry will pay, the deal also
includes the assumption of Cylance's unvested employee
incentives, BlackBerry said.
Cylance will continue to operate as a separate business unit
after the deal closes, BlackBerry said. The deal is expected to
close by Feb 2019.
U.S.-listed shares of Blackberry were marginally up in light
pre-market trading.
(Reporting by Bhargav Acharya and Debroop Roy in Bengaluru;
Editing by Sunil Nair and James Emmanuel)
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