BlackBerry has agreed to acquire cybersecurity company Cylance for $1.4 billion, confirming earlier reports of the deal.
Why it matters: This is BlackBerry's largest acquisition to date, and the deal serves as a reminder of how BlackBerry is trying to become more of an enterprise software company than a keyboarded smartphone maker.
To the exits: Cylance, which had been viewed as an IPO candidate, raised over $320 million, from firms like Blackstone, Insight Venture Partners, In-Q-Tel, KKR, Ten Eleven Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Fairhaven Capital Partners, DFJ Growth and Founders Equity Partners.
The bottom line: "Cylance makes AI-enabled software designed to protect mobile devices, tablets and other internet-connected devices from cyber attacks. The company’s software resides on these devices and is designed to work even when they’re not connected to a network and without consuming much power." — Jeremy Kahn, Bloomberg
