Certicom to shareholders: reject RIM bid

Certicom's board of directors has urged shareholders to vote and reject Research In Motion's bid for the company. Calling the bid, "significantly undervalued, opportunistic and not in the best interests of Certicom shareholders," the board said it was urging shareholders not to tender the bid.

On Dec. 3, RIM made an offer to acquire Certicom, which specializes in wireless VPN security and encryption, for around $1.19 per share, or $52.4 million, after it said it tried to reach a deal with Certicom's managers but could not. At the time of the bid, RIM said the offer represented a 75 percent premium on Certicom's shares as they stood on Dec. 2. Certicom rolled out the first wireless VPN for cellphones in 2002 and has worked with a variety of handset makers, including Motorola.

Certicom also made a filing with the Ontario Superior Court, seeking an junction to stop the take-over bid. Yesterday, in anticipation of that move, RIM said it was "disappointed that Certicom's directors are again attempting to keep the decision as to whether to accept RIM's offer out of Certicom shareholders' hands."

For more:
- see this release [1]

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RIM [3] makes bid for Certicom's cell phone security business