Nov 16, 2018 - Economy

BlackBerry agrees to acquire Cylance for $1.4 billion

Photo: Bernard Weil/Toronto Star via Getty Images

BlackBerry has agreed to acquire cybersecurity company Cylance for $1.4 billion, confirming earlier reports of the deal.

Why it matters: This is BlackBerry's largest acquisition to date, and the deal serves as a reminder of how BlackBerry is trying to become more of an enterprise software company than a keyboarded smartphone maker.

To the exits: Cylance, which had been viewed as an IPO candidate, raised over $320 million, from firms like Blackstone, Insight Venture Partners, In-Q-Tel, KKR, Ten Eleven Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Fairhaven Capital Partners, DFJ Growth and Founders Equity Partners.

The bottom line: "Cylance makes AI-enabled software designed to protect mobile devices, tablets and other internet-connected devices from cyber attacks. The company’s software resides on these devices and is designed to work even when they’re not connected to a network and without consuming much power." — Jeremy Kahn, Bloomberg

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BlackBerry agrees to acquire Cylance for $1.4 billion

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