BlackBerry Agrees to Sell Legacy Patents

As reported by BlackBerry, BlackBerry Limited entered into a patent sale agreement with Catapult IP Innovations Inc., a company from Delaware which was formed specifically to acquire BlackBerry’s patent assets. Pursuant to the agreement, BlackBerry has agreed to sell the majority of its non-core patent assets to Catapult for $600 million. 

The patents sold primarily relate to mobile devices, messaging and wireless networking. BlackBerry will receive a license back to the sold patents. Funding for the sale has been obtained through a secured term loan by Toronto-based Third Eye Capital that includes a Canadian pension fund.  

The transaction is consistent with BlackBerry’s push to wind down its links to its legacy mobile business and to focus on security software and services. The completion of the transaction is conditional upon satisfying regulatory conditions pursuant to the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act and the Investment Canada Act. This process could take up to 210 days.