Struggling phone company BlackBerry says it has sold up to $900 million (€834m) of its exclusive cellular patents. BlackBerry’s potential sale of its business to Catapult IP Innovations has collapsed.

Malikie Innovations Ltd will buy the BlackBerry patents and pay $170 million in cash on deal closing, and another $30 million three years later. BlackBerry will also receive annual cash royalties from the profits generated from the patents, mostly relating to its messaging and wireless networking abilities.

Malikie is a newly formed business unit of intellectual property monetisation firm Key Patent Innovations Ltd.

As to the potential sale to Catapult, BlackBerry says: “Catapult was unable to secure financing that would have enabled it to complete the previously announced transaction on amended terms that were acceptable to BlackBerry,” the Canadian-based company, founded as Research in Motion, said in a statement.

BlackBerry ended its smartphone services in 2022 having suffered from competition from iPhones and Android smartphones. At its peak in 2011, there were 85 million subscribers to BlackBerry.

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Tags: BlackBerry, Catapult IP Innovations, Key Patent Innovations, Malikie Innovations, Research in Motion