RIM Locks In Certicom Acquisition

BlackBerry maker RIM seems to have locked in its acquisition of encryption developer Certicom, with competing bidder VeriSign saying it won't top RIM's latest offer.

Research in Motion’s bid to take over encryption technology developer Certicom now appears to be a done deal, with competing bidder VeriSign notifying Certicom that it would not top RIM’s latest offer of $3 CDN per share, or about $106 million USD. RIM has been moving to acquire Certicom for some time to augment its mobile products with enhanced security, including elliptical curve cryptography (ECC) technologies, which, on a per-bit basis, are currently considered more secure than other forms of cryptography. Certicom says the U.S. National Security Agency uses ECC technology to encrypt government communications.

RIM originally offered $1.50 CDN per share to take over Certicom, which Certicom rejected in December as undervaluing the company, and an Ontario court issued an injunction blocking RIM’s takeover attempt. Sensing opportunity, VeriSign stepped in with an offer of $2.10 CND per share, and the companies announced a VeriSign acquisition would go forward. However, the agreement allowed a window in which Certicom could consider superior offers, and RIM jumped through, offering $3 CDN per share, double it’s original takeover offer.

The acquisition will also give RIM possession of Certicom’s Mobile Trust digital certificate technology, which enables both parties in an e-commerce transaction to positively identify each other. The technology is currently used by a number of large enterprises, including IBM, Motorola, Oracle, and General Dynamics.