BlackBerry to acquire Cylance for $1.4bn

The Ontario-based technology company, BlackBerry, has announced a deal with the US software company, Cylance.

BlackBerry will acquire the California-based firm for CAD$1.85bn (US$1.4bn), with the deal expected to close by February next year.

“Cylance’s leadership in artificial intelligence and cybersecurity will immediately complement our entire portfolio, UEM and QNX in particular,” commented John Chen, Executive Chairman of and Chief Executive Officer at BlackBerry.

“We are very excited to onboard their team and leverage our newly combined expertise.”

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“We believe adding Cylance’s capabilities to our trusted advantages in privacy, secure mobility, and embedded systems will make BlackBerry Spark indispensable to realizing the Enterprise of Things.”

Cylance focuses its operations in the artificial intelligence (AI) and cybersecurity industries, incorporating algorithmic science and machine learning in cybersecurity.

“Our highly skilled cybersecurity workforce and market leadership in next-generation endpoint solutions will be a perfect fit within BlackBerry where our customers, teams and technologies will gain immediate benefits from BlackBerry’s global reach,” remarked Stuart McClure, Co-Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Cylance.

“We are eager to leverage BlackBerry’s mobility and security strengths to adapt our advanced AI technology to deliver a single platform.”