RIM ends bid for Certicom

Research In Motion dropped its $1.19-per-share offer for Certicom, ending a bitter hostile takeover bid that began in early December.

Saying that its offer could "no longer be satisfied" because of a decision by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, the BlackBerry maker withdrew its bid, handing a victory to Certicom, which had urged its shareholders in December to reject the bid.

At that time, Certicom had also made a filing with the court, seeking an injunction to stop the bid. Certicom said earlier this week that the court granted the injunction because RIM and its subsidiary had violated a nondisclosure agreements that Certicom and RIM had made in 2007 and 2008 by using confidential information from Certicom to make its 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.
 

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