Synchronoss Acquires Cloud Services Provider NewBay From RIM

Research In Motion (RIM) has let go of its cloud services company, NewBay, selling it to Synchronoss Technologies for $55.5 million in cash. The acquisition closed just after Santa's visit to all the good, little boys and girls.

The acquisition of the Dublin, Ireland-based cloud services company will give Bridgewater, New Jersey-based Synchronoss the ability to expand its global mobility platform enablement strategy considerably. The acquisition followed shortly on the heels of two C-level executive appointments at NewBay. The cloud services company appointed Tom Goguen as CEO in September and Mark Payne as CFO in October. Both were former RIM executives who now find themselves with brand new bosses. Still, this deal must have been in the works for some time.

This is a fast turnaround for RIM, which only snapped up NewBay in October 2011. RIM, which is frequently being scrutinized for its recent issues in the mobile device market, barely held onto the cloud services company for a year. Whether it just wasn't the fit RIM execs thought it would be or it was a sale of necessity is unknown.

Unfortunately for RIM, this was a big loss. RIM bought NewBay in 2011 for about $100 million, although the exact figure is known only by the head honchos of the time at both RIM and NewBay. Selling it for half of what was originally paid for the company is a tough break for the Canadian BlackBerry manufacturer.

NewBay's white-label software platform enables mobile operators and service providers to deliver "content experiences" across connected devices. According to NewBay, its cloud services find their way to millions of users.

According to Stephen Waldis, Synchronoss CEO, the acquisition will bolster Synchronoss' global presence, including increasing its customer base and adding major European mobile operators to its customer list.

Synchronoss Technologies provides customers with software-based activiation and mobile content management products for connected devices.