BlackBerry is acquiring Good Technology for $425 million in cash.
The device vendor acquired the fellow enterprise mobility company as part of its push into the software market; Good will provide complementary capabilities to BlackBerry including secure applications and containerisation.
It will also add its expertise in multi-OS management, as Good has 64 percent of applications on iOS devices.
According to figures from IDC, in the enterprise mobility management software market in 2014, Good had a share of 9.7 percent while BlackBerry had a 9.5 percent share. Unifying will push them past current market leader AirWatch, which has a 11.4 percent share.
Together, they will have an overwhelmingly large customer base. Good serves over 6,200 organisations, including more than half of the Fortune 100, all of the Fortune 100 commercial banks, aerospace and defense firms, and leaders across healthcare, manufacturing and retail.
Meanwhile, BlackBerry is used by all G7 governments, 16 of the G20 governments, 10 out of 10 of the largest global banks and law firms, and the top five largest managed healthcare, investment services, and oil and gas companies.
"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 John Chen, BlackBerry Executive Chairman and CEO.
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Chen added: "By providing even stronger cross-platform capabilities our customers will not have to compromise on their choice of operating systems, deployment models or any level of privacy and security.
"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."
"Enterprise customers today demand stringent security and the most flexible platform across all mobility strategies," said Christy Wyatt, Good Chairman and CEO. "We are excited to join BlackBerry, where together we will be the most comprehensive mobile platform in the market.
"Good has worked hard to deliver the highest levels of security across operating systems and applications. Our trusted Good solutions will also help BlackBerry to accelerate its Internet of Things platform for managing endpoints beyond mobile devices."
Read CBR’s recent interview with Good’s Phil Barnett here.
