On Monday, Canadian technology firm BlackBerry (BB.TO) said it would study strategic alternatives. One option is the eventual divestiture of one or more of its companies.
In after-hours trading in the United States, shares of the corporation increased by about 11 percent.
Until the board approves a specific agreement or the review is complete, BlackBerry, founded in 1984 and initially manufactured pagers, has stated that it will not release any information related to the review.
The firm went public in 1997, and by the early 2000s, CEOs, politicians, and their legions of fans were all carrying the company’s ubiquitous business cell phones. However, it shut down operations last year and has since been attempting to sell its mobile-related patent portfolio.
BlackBerry revealed on Monday that it would move on with the up to $900 million sale of the patents to Malikie Innovations Limited after an earlier plan to sell them to Catapult IP Innovations Inc for $600 million fell through due to the deal taking longer than typical to close.
Malkie is a brand new Key Patent Innovations Ltd. division specializing in commercializing intellectual property.
BlackBerry’s original products were phones with a little QWERTY keyboard and the BBM instant messaging service; today, however, cybersecurity and software for automakers make up the company’s primary revenue streams.