BlackBerry on Friday surpised tech wathers and possibly investors with the announcement of an acquisition of the rival mobile software provider Good Technology Corp for $425 million. BlackBerry hopes that the deal will help the struggling company win new customers for its services business, a priority as it shifts focus to device management software for enterprise customers.

BlackBerry COO Marty Beard said that both Blackberry and Good Technology have been delivering secure mobility for more than a decade and that their respective strengths complement each other well.

"With this deal, we will move forward together with the same mission and commitment that has always driven our companies separately: to provide customers with the best and most secure products, services and support to meet their enterprise mobility needs."

Blackberry CEO said BlackBerry will maintain both company's products as it develops a unified platform that customers can upgrade to. He said that a unified product may take a year or two.

Relations between BlackBerry and Silicon Valley-based Good had long been tense. The companies settled a series of patent lawsuits in 2004, but as recently as January 2015, BlackBerry critiqued one of Good's product announcements in a blog post, annotating the rival company's press release in red ink.

Good Chief Executive Christy Wyatt said her company's technology would boost BlackBerry's ability to manage "Internet of things" devices, supporting wearable technology such as the Apple Watch and Android-based competitors.