Ailing Canadian handset maker BlackBerry Ltd.is working to reinvent itself and spending a pretty penny to do it. The company has agreed to buy Good Technology for 5 million in an all-cash deal. At the same time, Good’s products will be integrated with BlackBerry’s enterprise portfolio and global network to help protect customers.
Good works with multi-OS management for businesses, suggesting they have “64 percent of activations from iOS devices, followed by a broad Android and Windows customer base”. Good Technology is used by 6200 organizations, including half of the Fortune 100 and all of the commercial banks, aerospace and defense firms in that group.
Some people may not realize it, but BlackBerry and Good [Technology] have both been delivering secure mobility for more than a decade, Our industry is very competitive and is constantly evolving, so it’s not surprising that we’ve each taken some aggressive positions over the years.
John Chen said the cross-platform tech will allow customers greater choice of “operating systems, deployment models or any level of privacy and security”.
BlackBerry expects the deal to close near the conclusion of its 2016 fiscal Q3, assuming standard closing conditions, and to be accretive to earnings and cash flow within a year after the deal completes.
In a statement, BlackBerry said that Good will give it the assets to offer a unified mobility platform that can manage multiple platforms.
BlackBerry’s acquisition of Good makes a lot of sense considering the company’s renewed direction as an enterprise mobile management provider. In an official Q&A session held on occasion of the launch, Good Technology chief executive Christy Wyatt revealed that BlackBerry plans to use her outfit’s technology in order to extend its reach to wearable devices, which could prove a goldmine as adoption steadily increases among enterprise workers. That’s higher than anyone else in the mobile security category, according to the company.
“I believe BlackBerry and Good combined will raise the bar in the enterprise mobility market, enabling our customers to be more productive and protecting their sensitive data across all their mobile endpoints”, Chen said.
Thus, BlackBerry’s acquisition of Good likely is an attempt by BlackBerry to reignite its growth in the EMM market – a market that it has re-embraced following the lackluster reception of its newest BlackBerry smartphones. The company noted that the acquisition will enhance its sales and distribution capabilities as well as further grow its enterprise software revenue stream.