Blackberry mulls buying Israel's Allot - report

Andrei Elefant
Andrei Elefant

The Israeli company's specialization in data security would help BlackBerry expand its subscriber base, "Seeking Alpha" reports.

Canadian company BlackBerry is mulling buying Israeli company Allot Communications Ltd. (Nasdaq:ALLT; TASE: ALLT), "Seeking Alpha" reports. Allot has developed IP service optimization solutions for service providers.

BlackBerry makes a viable candidate for acquisition by BlackBerry because it is profitable and has high liquidity (it has over $100 million cash in its coffers). Allot would thus contribute to BlackBerry's shrinking revenue. The Israeli company's specialization in data security would also help BlackBerry expand its subscriber base. In addition, Allot has major experience with cellular operators and 8 of its 14 major deals have been in this field. Last but not least, BlackBerry could afford to buy Allot, which has a market cap of $177 million.

Managed by president and CEO Andrei Elefant, Allot has been seeking a buyer for some time and in August there was reported interest from Formula Systems Ltd. (Nasdaq: FORTY; TASE: FORT).

BlackBerry, which announced several days ago that it was halting production of smartphones, acquired Israeli data security company WatchDox in April 2015 and made its Petah Tikva offices its Israel development center.

Allot declined to comment on the report.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on October 5, 2016

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2016

Andrei Elefant
Andrei Elefant
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