RIM in bid to take over Indian-owned tech firm Certicom Corp

Research In Motion (RIM), the maker of BlackBerry, is zeroing in on buying out Indian-owned Certicom Corp.

The Mississauga, Toronto owned Certicom is a known technology player which is into supplies of vital technology for smart phones. Certicom supplies the crucial wireless technology not only to the BlackBerry maker, but also to Motorola, IBM and Texas Instruments Inc. If the acquisition happens as expected,
RIM will use Cetricom technolgy to get technology for its varied range of smart phones. Cetricom has already made a name as global leader in encryption technology used by RIM to build secure messaging system in its BlackBerry smart phones.

It had earlier been reported by the global technology media that RIM had made a $66-million hostile bid to Certicom’s shareholders for its takeover. The move came after RIM didnt succeed in making much haedway in this regard when it had held parleys with eth Cetricom bosses. The Indian owned company had then managed a court injunction in this regard stating that RIM had violated non-disclosure agreements signed by the two sides during the takeover talks.

This set back, however, didnt not dissuade Research In Motion to stop bidding for Cetricom. After waiting for a period of two weeks since the injuction the blackberry maker has emerged again soon after Certicom’s friendly takeover by California-based VeriSign Inc. Certicom has clarified that it has received an offer of $131 million or $3 a share in cash from RIM. This significantly is two times RIM’s earlier hostile bid for takeover. Media reports said that RIM’s offer is 43 percent more than VeriSign’s offer.

Meanwhile, Certicom has said that its panel of independent directors will review the BlackBerry offer after consulting with financial and legal advisors. This is said to have come about taking into account the company’s legal bindings under its agreement with VeriSign.