After shuttering its smartphone services, BlackBerry has finally announced that it will sell its legacy patents that are primarily related to mobile devices, messaging, and wireless networking for $600 million to a special purpose vehicle formed to acquire the company’s patent assets.
According to a Reuters report, the legacy patents will be acquired by Catapult IP Innovations, a special purpose vehicle that was specifically formed for the acquisition. BlackBerry said the transaction with Catapult IP Innovations Inc, will not impact customers’ use of its products or services.
The development comes weeks after BlackBerry pulled the plug on service for its once ubiquitous business smartphones, which were toted by executives, politicians and legions of fans in the early 2000s.
Shares down
As per the report, US-listed shares of BlackBerry were down 3.6% in premarket trading. One of the so-called “meme stocks”, such as GameStop and AMC Entertainment, that witnessed a surge in early 2021, BlackBerry rose 41% last year.
The company will receive $450 million in cash and a promissory note for $150 million at the closing of the deal, said the Reuters report.
BlackBerry was once known for its phones with a tiny QWERTY physical keyboard and the BBM instant messaging service. Its core businesses today are cybersecurity and software used by automakers.
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