BlackBerry acquires competitor Good Technology for $425 million

Canadian smartphone maker BlackBerry announced Friday it has reached an agreement to acquire competitor Good Technology for $425 million in cash.

The Waterloo, Ont.-based company said the acquisition will allow it to expand security within its mobile platform and enterprise solutions.

“By acquiring Good, BlackBerry will better solve one of the biggest struggles for CIOs today, especially those in regulated industries: securely managing devices across any platform,” said CEO John Chen in a press release.

“Like BlackBerry, Good has a very strong presence in enterprises and governments around the world and, with this transaction, BlackBerry will enhance its sales and distribution capabilities and further grow its enterprise software revenue stream.”

Good has been a main competitor of the BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) platform. Good’s platform works similar to BES, allowing companies to separate work and personal data on employee’s phones and provide security for the device.

BlackBerry has switched its focus to software and business solutions as sales of its consumer handsets decline.

The company has made several acquisitions over the last year, including a deal to buy California-based software company AtHoc, which develops emergency alert systems for government agencies, military bodies, and other organizations.

In April, BlackBerry also reached an agreement to buy WatchDox Ltd. WatchDox products are designed to give organizations control over how files are edited, copied, printed or forwarded from mobile and desktop devices.

The Good Technology deal is subject to certain conditions but BlackBerry says it expects to get about US$160 million in additional revenue in the first year.

– With files from The Canadian Press