BlackBerry is buying cybersecurity firm Cylance for $1.4 billion

Cylance CEO Stuart
Mcclure
Cylance

• BlackBerry
  just confirmed it plans to buy AI cybersecurity startup
  Cylance
  for $1.4 billion in cash.
• Cylance will continue to operate as a separate business
  within BlackBerry.
• Business Insider first reported the acquisition talks in
  early November.

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Canadian software maker BlackBerry said on Friday it will acquire
Cylance, an artificial intelligence and cybersecurity company,
for $1.4 billion in cash. Business Insider
first reported the acquisition talks in early November.

Besides the cash component, the deal includes the assumption of
Cylance’s unvested employee incentives, BlackBerry said.

Cylance will operate as a separate business unit within
BlackBerry, the company said.

Cylance, based in Irvine, California, develops
artificial-intelligence-based products to protect companies from
cyberattacks. It has raised $327 million in venture-capital
funding, according to PitchBook, and was recently considering
filing for an initial public offering, several sources told
Business Insider.

The six-year-old startup competes with CrowdStrike — which is
planning an IPO valuing the company at more than $3
billion, according
to a recent Reuters report— in the fast-growing market for
cybersecurity services.

BlackBerry has been expanding its security offerings, as it has
shifted from selling mobile-phone hardware to providing
enterprise software and services to business customers.

Cylance brought in more than $130 million in revenue for fiscal
2018, representing 90% year-over-year
growth, a
press release from June said. Cylance also has 4,000
customers, according to the release.

 

(Reporting by Bhargav Acharya in Bengaluru, Becky Peterson in San
Francisco)