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Malikie Innovations Ltd will buy the patents and pay $170
million in cash on deal closing, and another $30 million three
years later. BlackBerry will also get annual cash royalties from
the profits generated from the patents, relating to its
messaging and wireless networking among others.
Malikie is a newly formed unit of intellectual property
monetization firm Key Patent Innovations Ltd.
Blackberry said last year it was exploring other options to sell
its patents as the planned deal with Catapult IP Innovations Inc
was taking longer than usual to close, leading to a loss in
exclusivity.
"Catapult was unable to secure financing that would have enabled
it to complete the previously announced transaction on amended
terms that were acceptable to BlackBerry," the Canadian company
said in a statement.
Once known for its phones with a tiny QWERTY physical keyboard
and the BBM instant messaging service, BlackBerry's core
businesses today are cybersecurity and software used by
automakers.
Last year, the company pulled the plug on service for its
smartphones, a culmination of years of market share loss to
Apple's iPhones and rival Android devices.
(Reporting by Tiyashi Datta in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini
Ganguli)
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