BlackBerry makes Good on acquisition pledge

Smartphone maker buys enterprise mobility management vendor Good for $425m

BlackBerry is buying Good Technology in a bid to create the "most comprehensive mobile platform in the market".

Having been a whisker away from selling up in 2013 following a period of corporate turmoil, the Canadian smartphone maker on Friday announced a definitive agreement to buy Good for $425m (£279m).

BlackBerry said the deal gels with its strategy to offer customers an "end-to-end solution that secures the entire mobile enterprise, across all platforms".

The cash purchase also makes good on BlackBerry chief executive John Chen's pledge last year to hit the acquisition trail after returning to profitability.

The vendor said Good's cross-platform enterprise mobility management (EMM) offering plays well in a world where corporate customers are pursuing a range of deployment models, such as BYOD, and corporate-owned and personally enabled (COPE).

Sixty-four per cent of Good's activations are from iOS devices, BlackBerry pointed out.

Good, which serves more than 6,200 customers including more than half of the Fortune 100, is set to add about $160m to Good's GAAP revenues in the first year.

"We are excited to join BlackBerry, where together we will be the most comprehensive mobile platform in the market," said Good chief executive Christy Wyatt.

Chen added: "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."