[OlympusMons]

Yes, this is great use of our cash reserves. Just imagine what GOOD would have fetched on the open market IPO with $160M in cashflow per annum. I think it would have a minimum valuation of 10x (Ala MOBL style marketing hype from our favourite analysts) and we just acquired them for less than 3x and that number is even lower if revenues are ramping upwards!

[Corbu]

And, one can never get enough of Amber...
BNN - Watch TV Online | Blackberry makes biggest buy ever with Good Technology

[morganplus8]

Is Good larger than Mobileiron, Airwatch?

Posted via CB10

I place Good at a premium to MOBL but I used revenues to decide that MOBL was worth $ 5.00 and falling. MOBL will exit revenues at slightly less than $ 150 MM and they have cash so I'll give them that valuation for now. Should BB look at them? NO! BBRY has crippled their ability to do business and that means they will have to cut their rates to compete which will send them spinning downward each quarter. As for AIR, we have a nurdy guy with big fizzy hair and black glasses named Corbu and he knows everything about these companies. I don't know much about AIR stats so hopefully he can find some dirt on them too. Chen needs to shock the world now with an off line purchase like Sierra Wireless, something that sends shivers through the investment world. Great day indeed.

PS. It sounds like Good was having a difficult time going to market, they would have preferred to take the company public but this time of year it is difficult to take in premiums like that. I'm sure BlackBerry had to sell their package to Good in order to stop that IPO. Interesting deal.

[Superfly_FR]

And, one can never get enough of Amber...
BNN - Watch TV Online | Blackberry makes biggest buy ever with Good Technology

Mr. Chen claims that Good has annual revenue in the $200-million range, and that BlackBerry will realize close to $160-million GAAP revenue from Good in the first year, assuming the deal passes muster with regulatory bodies in Canada and the U.S.

That would go a long way to earning BlackBerry $500-million a year in software, something Mr. Chen has been touting as a goal of his turnaround plan. Earlier acquisitions in Mr. Chen’s tenure have had the same goal: Secusmart, WatchDox, Movirtu and AtHoc (that last purchase has yet to close).

External growth.
Hey, you, the 2020 MBA student, when you'll read this: remember, this has been the key point.

[Corbu]

Here we go. JC with Amber on BNN:
BNN - Watch TV Online | Why BlackBerry bought Good

[Superfly_FR]

My father used to say "ca m'en touche une sans bouger l'autre" (*).
That's how I feel when I see red despite the news.

(*) we have experts in translation here

[leafs123]

I place Good at a premium to MOBL but I used revenues to decide that MOBL was worth $ 5.00 and falling. MOBL will exit revenues at slightly less than $ 150 MM and they have cash so I'll give them that valuation for now. Should BB look at them? NO! BBRY has crippled their ability to do business and that means they will have to cut their rates to compete which will send them spinning downward each quarter. As for AIR, we have a nurdy guy with big fizzy hair and black glasses named Corbu and he knows everything about these companies. I don't know much about AIR stats so hopefully he can find some dirt on them too. Chen needs to shock the world now with an off line purchase like Sierra Wireless, something that sends shivers through the investment world. Great day indeed.

PS. It sounds like Good was having a difficult time going to market, they would have preferred to take the company public but this time of year it is difficult to take in premiums like that. I'm sure BlackBerry had to sell their package to Good in order to stop that IPO. Interesting deal.

I don't know the exact numbers of Air but on February 2014, they were acquired by VMware for about $1.18 billion which gives them a lot more backing and resources from VM. Should be interesting how it plays out in this space now that BB has swallowed up Good.

[Corbu]

A good point to start insofar as the EMM players are concerned is here:
http://forums.crackberry.com/bbry-f3...l#post11900476

AirWatch was indeed acquired by VMware is Feb 2014 for 1.5 B.
2,300 employees

Then, one may look at the famous/infamous Gartner EMM Magic Quadrant annual report:
2015 Gartner EMM Magic Quadrant: What's Changed Since 2014? - Best Mobile Device Management MDM Vendors, On-Premise, In the Cloud

According to them:

In looking at the Quadrant itself and where EMM providers are plotted there has not been a world of change. Those who are still included remain in the same quadrants as last year with slight movements for a few:

Leaders – AirWatch by VMware, MobileIron, IBM, Good Technology and Citrix

Visionaries – Soti, Sophos and Microsoft (included this year)

Challengers – SAP

Niche – BlackBerry, Landesk and Globo

Out – Tangoe, Absolute Software and Symantec

Of all those included in the 2015 EMM Magic Quadrant BlackBerry and Soti seem to have the most movement within their respective categories. Within the Niche category BlackBerry move up and to the right and in now positioned in the top right-hand corner. This positive movement can be attributed to the release of BlackBerry Enterprise Service 12 (BES12) towards the end of 2014. Gartner writes, “BES12 provides improved non-BlackBerry OS support, and it consolidates the management of BlackBerry devices, which previously required separate versions of BlackBerry Enterprise Service, depending on the type of device. BES12 is a more complete EMM product than prior versions, and it should meet many organizations’ requirements for cross-platform management.”

So, MOBL and Good are two of the five "leaders", AirWatch being one of them as well. BBRY is a "niche" player... We all have our opinion as to MOBL's past and future.

That fascination with MOBL on Gartner's part goes back a few years. This, from 2014:
Top 10 Enterprise Mobility Management Suites In Gartner's Magic Quadrant - Page: 10 | CRN

You will recall that Marty Beard penned a blog entry on Gartner's report, a while back:
Looking Beyond Gartner?s EMM Magic Quadrant | Inside BlackBerry

This too, for an overall look:
http://solutions-review.com/mobile-d...ide-directory/

[DaSchwantz]

Last but not least.. I hope they acquired a talented workforce! I can imagine that this is truly a case of 1+1=2 ..

Posted via CB10

Step One: Find and purge all key staff involved in antiblackberry marketing activities. Step Two: Make sure all big clients are contacted by their sales reps and retained under the bbry fold.

Posted via CB10

[helopilot06]

Wow, had to put my power reading skills on to cut through the drama to get to the meat today.

Gotta love this acquisition, I think this is the best move in a while by our beloved company. Not only is it narrowing the field of competition but it's also adding revenue. Love it.

Posted via crackberry10 on my new Z30!

[Corbu]

Why BlackBerry spending $425 mn cash to acquire Good Technology

BlackBerry today announced its deal to acquire Good Technology for $425 million.

The all-cash deal will assist Ontario-based BlackBerry to offer a unified, secure mobility platform with applications for any mobile device on any operating system.

Interestingly, BlackBerry expects to realize approximately $160 million in revenue from Good Technology in the first year.

Founded in 1996 in Silicon Valley, Good Technology is a privately held company, funded by investment firms and other private investors.

Good Technology recently said that Gartner has recognized the company’s security solutions in its 2015 Critical Capabilities for High-Security Mobility Management report. Good Technology received the highest product scores in BYO (3.73 of 5) and Nonemployee (3.77 of 5) as well as Shared Data (3.56 of 5) and High-Security Government Grade (3.51 of 5). Good also scored impressive marks in High-Security Commercial (3.37 of 5) and Shared Devices (3.26 of 5).

Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Good Technology will bring technologies, including secure applications and containerization that protects end user privacy.

BlackBerry aims to expand its ability to offer cross-platform EMM solutions to boost presence among companies that opt for bring-your-own-device (BYOD); corporate owned, personally enabled (COPE); as well as environments with multiple user interfaces and operating systems.

Good has 64 percent of activations from iOS devices, followed by a broad Android and Windows customer base. This experience combined with BlackBerry’s strength in BlackBerry 10 and Android management – including Samsung KNOX-enabled devices – will provide increased choice to users, said BlackBerry.

Good Dynamics platform, which provides app-level encryption, data loss prevention and communication between applications, has more than 2,000 independent software vendor and custom applications built today.

“By acquiring Good Technology, 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, executive chairman and CEO of BlackBerry.

Good Technology serves more than 6,200 organizations, 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.

BlackBerry works with 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.

The iOS aspect was mentioned specifically by JC and seems to have been picked up by many commentators.

[DaSchwantz]

New thread idea! "I support BBRY I buy Sticker Packs!" lol

That actually makes a lot more sense than buying shares to support BlackBerry...at least they get some high margin $ from stickers, lol.

Posted via CB10

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

My father used to say "ca m'en touche une sans bouger l'autre" (*).
That's how I feel when I see red despite the news.

(*) we have experts in translation here

Takes time to delve into what this really means....

Most just see BlackBerry spending money. With a little time to understand what this really means it should pull us up some.

But in looking today, Good did have revenues of $200 Million... but they were still losing almost $100 Million per quarter I'm sure the first thing Chen is going to do is start cutting cost....

[sati01]

BlackBerry spent resources and time developing their own software, playing catch up with incumbents, but they failed to grow organically. More than a good move, the failure of the strategy forced the acquisition of a competitor at a premium.

[Corbu]

Very interesting:
BNN - Watch TV Online | Why Good sold to BlackBerry

Christy Wyatt, Chairman and CEO, Good Technology joins BNN to discuss why she sold her company to BlackBerry for US$425M, and why her technology will benefit the Canadian smartphone company.

[W Hoa]

Some updated analyst views:

Canaccord Genuity’s T. Michael Walkley reiterated a Hold rating and $8 price target

Morningstar’s Brian Colello reiterated a Hold rating and $9 fair value

S&P Capital IQ’s Angelo Zino reiterated a Hold rating

UBS’s Amitabh Passi reiterated a Neutral rating and $10 price target

Analysts Like BlackBerry's Good Technology Deal, Still Wary Of The Stock - Tech Trader Daily - Barrons.com

[Superfly_FR]

Step One: Find and purge all key staff involved in antiblackberry marketing activities.

Confirmed: I'm suffering otherworldliness

[Corbu]

Partners Cheer BlackBerry's $425 Million Blockbuster Acquisition Of Good Technology - Page: 1 | CRN

BlackBerry on Friday revealed it will acquire mobile device management and security company Good Technology in a $425 million effort to expand its cross-platform enterprise mobility management portfolio.

Partners applauded the acquisition as an opportunity for BlackBerry to turn around its declining revenue through expanding its portfolio of EMM solutions across multiple operating systems and mobile devices.

"I am excited about BlackBerry buying Good," said Robby Hill, founder and CEO of HillSouth, a Florence, S.C.-based Microsoft partner. "This continues to show BlackBerry is executing on its long-term strategy to be operating-system agnostic and be less reliable on any one hardware and software platform. From a partner perspective, we should see new business opportunities by leveraging Good's brand name and, hopefully soon, new products."

Good Technology, a Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company, provides solutions like app-level encryption, advanced data loss prevention and secure communication between applications, as well as management for Android, Android Wear, Apple Watch, BlackBerry, iOS and Windows Phone.

Good has expertise in multioperating system management. Up to 64 percent of Good's activations are from iOS devices, and the company has a broad Android and Windows customer base as well.

Through the acquisition, BlackBerry said it will be able to expand its BlackBerry 10 OS and Android management to global enterprise and government customers.

Both BlackBerry and Good Technology have channel partner programs. A spokesperson at Good Technology did not respond to a question by press time about how Good's channel partner ecosystem would be influenced by the acquisition.

"The biggest benefit of this acquisition for BlackBerry is that it introduces pure multi-OS capability and moves BlackBerry from a niche market player with declining revenues to an organization that can now market cross-platform EMM to companies of all sizes," said Jay Gordon, vice president of sales at Plano, Texas-based BlackBerry partner Enterprise. "While Good has not fared as well as other MDM providers in recent years, it has shared a focus with legacy BlackBerry shops primarily on financial services, health care and government."

CEO John Chen, on a conference call with investors, said the transaction was expected to close in the third quarter of 2016, and stressed BlackBerry's goal of expanding its solutions across multiple operating systems and platforms.

"Our vision at BlackBerry is more secure, connected technology for the world," said Chen. "Good brings us platform diversity and expansion. We're very comfortable with ... how our focus with Good is the same."

Good Technology is the latest in BlackBerry's string of acquisitions. In April, the Waterloo, Ontario-based company bought WatchDox, a file security and secure document gateway company. In December, it acquired Secusmart, a German company specializing in voice and data encryption.

BlackBerry has been struggling to stabilize its weak revenue through acquiring smaller companies and beefing up its product portfolios across multiple operating systems.The company reported a revenue drop of $660 million in the fourth quarter from last year's $976 million in the same quarter, in March. Analysts had projected revenue of $786 million.

Rick Jordan, director of mobility sales at Tenet Computer Group, a Toronto-based BlackBerry partner, thinks the acquisition will help accelerate BlackBerry's turnaround in the mobile security space.

"This is going to strengthen BlackBerry's foothold in the enterprise," said Jordan. "With Good, it will be more complementary technology, and now it gives them an elevated platform."

[slipstream89]

Don't worry Superfly traders are going to be going home early today with the long weekend, let the news digest for next week

My father used to say "ca m'en touche une sans bouger l'autre" (*).
That's how I feel when I see red despite the news.

(*) we have experts in translation here

[Corbu]

BlackBerry Buying Rival Good Technology for $425 Million in Cash | Re/code

BlackBerry said Friday it is acquiring rival Good Technology for $425 million in cash as it looks to strengthen its position in the core business of helping companies manage their mobile devices.

Good filed for a public stock offering last year, but had yet to move forward with those plans. Instead, it raised $80 million in additional private funding as it weighed whether and when to go public.

Though a significant chunk of change, it’s far less than the $1.5 billion that VMware paid to acquire Good rival AirWatch in 2014.

While BlackBerry’s software already helped securely manage Android and iOS devices, that has been the focus of Good over the last several years. The two companies plan to bring together their separate server software for managing phones and tablets, BlackBerry said in a blog post.

“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,” BlackBerry CEO John Chen said in a blog post. “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.”

The deal is expected to close by the end of BlackBerry’s third fiscal quarter of 2016 — which ends in November 2015.

J. Gold Associates analyst Jack Gold says the move will help bulk up BlackBerry’s customer base and provides Good with the exit it needed.

“Good was planning a public offering but with its mixed financial results would have had a difficult time going public,” Gold said in a research note. “This path makes them part of an already public company and avoids the scrutiny and difficulty of an IPO.”

However, he cautioned that bringing together the two companies’ product lines could be difficult, especially given public animosity between Chen and Good CEO Christy Wyatt.

“BlackBerry does have experience here with its many recent acquisitions, but Good has much more technology to integrate than previous acquisitions,” he said. “And the culture of the two companies is different, especially since it’s clear that there was no love lost between the top staff (Christy Wyatt spent much time and effort bashing BlackBerry whenever possible, and John Chen responded accordingly).”

Wyatt is set to join BlackBerry in a yet-to-be-determined role.

It’s also unclear whether all 650 of Good’s employees will join BlackBerry. “Staffing is always subject to business conditions, but we recognize that the strength of a company lies in its people and we value the expertise that the Good team will bring to BlackBerry,” BlackBerry said in a statement to Re/code.

[Corbu]

BlackBerry acquires Good Technology for $425m: How new leadership prompts new ideas - Enterprise Apps Tech News

If a week is a long time in politics, a year in an industry as disruptive as enterprise mobility is an eternity. BlackBerry has announced plans to acquire enterprise mobility management (EMM) provider Good Technology for $425 million (�279.8m) in cash.

The deal, which is expected to complete in BlackBerry’s third fiscal quarter of 2016, is another sign of the consolidation in the enterprise mobile market and a move by both parties to create the leading mobile platform in the market.

From BlackBerry’s perspective, Good’s customer base of highly regulated industries and focus on security – the company achieved the highest score in all six use cases in a recent Gartner report on critical capabilities for high security mobility management – was attractive. From Good’s perspective, CEO and chairman Christy Wyatt noted the “amazing reach and integration with networks and enterprise customers around the world.”

Wyatt tells Enterprise AppsTech: “If you really think about who’s really thought through the concept of management within the enterprise, [BlackBerry] have been thinking about this as long as anybody.

“I think that while we’ve worked in the same market, if you line the two up side by side, you go ‘wow’. We have a lot of things that we’re good at that are very complimentary to one another,” she adds.

Evidently both companies are cited on the security element – BlackBerry 10 was the first mobility solution to receive full operational capability to run on US Department of Defence networks. But other technologies, such as the Internet of Things (IoT), are also key. As BlackBerry COO Marty Beard said in an interview published on the company blog: “Together, we will be able to quickly scale customers’ mobile environments, transforming traditional MDM deployments to mission-critical hubs that will ultimately manage an IoT world.

“We will be able to better bridge to IoT for regulated industries as many machines and devices requiring next generation digital displays will leverage mobile devices and tablets,” he added.

Yet this doesn’t tell the full story.

Go back to May 2014, and Good Technology was making moves to prepare an IPO. AirWatch had been bought by VMware in January that year, while MobileIron went public in June. Why the change? Wyatt explains: “We started the IPO process last spring. I think we had a fantastic response to that, and I think we had a couple of other brands that went out into the market and frankly had a bit of a challenging launch, which caused us to think about our timing a little bit more.

She adds: “We started the process again earlier this year, most people saw us updating our filings, it wasn’t a secret that we were continuing to keep the process fresh. But some of the comparable brands have been incredibly stressed, and I think the market has been quite a challenge.” Yet Wyatt insists this wasn’t the reason the deal was done.

It was no secret either that Good and BlackBerry have not seen eye to eye in the past. That’s natural as competitors in the EMM space, with Good distributing whitepapers comparing BlackBerry’s platform unfavourably to its own. But times change, and with a new leader at the helm, in the case of BlackBerry CEO John Chen, differences can be put aside.

Not that Wyatt, as a rule, has had anything other than respect for BlackBerry. One of the first things Chen did as incoming chief executive was to plaster a big advertising campaign proclaiming BlackBerry to be the leader in mobile device management. Unlike some competitors, Wyatt did not stick the boot in to the ailing company when asked to comment. She told this correspondent in January 2014 she had a “huge amount of respect for the BlackBerry technology legacy.”

18 months on, the song remains the same. “For a whole host of reasons I’ve always had a lot of respect for BlackBerry,” explains Wyatt. “I think that they have continued to be an innovator in the space, they’ve long been the iconic brand for enterprise mobility, and I respect what John [Chen] is doing within the company.

“It’s very difficult when you’re in an industry that’s moving quickly and going through a lot of disruption to continue to stay on that front edge.”

Wyatt noted it was too early for branding issues and company repositioning to be sorted out, while Good and BlackBerry customers should see very little change short term and that it would be “business as usual.”

[Bacon Munchers]

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/blackb...115935565.html

WOW! BlackBerry acquires Good Technology!


Posted via CB10

Good will finally be good I suppose. (Sorry. Couldn't resist).

JP Morgan and Merril Lynch serve as board members to Good, eh?

Hmmmmm.

[ZayDub]

Damn. Should I get in now then?

Posted via CB10

I got back in, after the spike and subsequent sell off...back to yesterday's base lol

*Edit* With the benefit of Good news factored in...still getting a cheap stock IMO. A company can't be so much on the verge of death but still have resources (and be willing to spend) to acquire other companies for millions. I think this is near the bottom. It seems prime for an uptick...once we have a clearly defined driver, hold on to your seat belts


BBM Channel: C002165D3

Tour 9630 > Bold 9650 > Q10 > Playbook > Classic AND Passport SE!!!

[Superfly_FR]

Some maths ...
Source : IDC - http://idcdocserv.com/256627_Final_deliverble

So, ladies and gents, we now have a clear leader for EMM/MDM by 50% !

Worldwide Enterprise Mobility Management Software (2014)

Software	Market Share	Revenues $Mil	Growth %
Others	39,20	553,8	32,00
BlackBerry + Good Tech.	19,20	270,6	38,60
AirWatch/Vmware	11,40	161,1	78,00
MobileIron	9,20	130,1	26,20
Citrix	8,10	114,2	47,20
SAP	8,00	113,2	4,50
IBM	4,90	69,1	10,70

[chenageddon]

Oh, THAT's how you're going to get software revenue to $500M.