MISSISSAUGA, ON, Feb. 10, 2009 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Certicom Corp. (TSX:CIC.TO) ("Certicom" or the "Company") announced today that it has received notice from VeriSign, Inc. ("VeriSign") that VeriSign will not exercise its right to match the offer by Research In Motion Limited ("RIM"), announced on February 3, 2009, to acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of the Company at a cash price of C$3.00 per share by way of a statutory plan of arrangement (the "RIM Offer").
Under the arrangement agreement between VeriSign and Certicom (the "VeriSign Agreement"), VeriSign had agreed to acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of the Company at a cash price of C$2.10 per share. On February 4, 2009, Certicom notified VeriSign that the RIM Offer is a "Superior Proposal" as defined under the VeriSign Agreement. Pursuant to the VeriSign Agreement, VeriSign had the right, but not the obligation, to offer to amend the terms of the VeriSign Agreement within five business days.
A meeting of Certicom's Board of Directors will be convened later today at which it is expected to approve the RIM Offer. If the Board of Directors approves the RIM Offer, Certicom will be in a position to enter into an arrangement agreement with RIM as contemplated by the RIM Offer after Certicom has made payment of a C$4 million termination fee to VeriSign and terminated the VeriSign Agreement.
About Certicom
Certicom manages and protects the value of content, applications and devices with government approved security. Adopted by the National Security Agency (NSA) for government communications, Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) provides the most security per bit of any known public-key scheme. As the global leader in ECC, Certicom's security offerings are currently licensed to hundreds of multinational technology companies, including IBM, General Dynamics, Motorola, Oracle and Research In Motion. Founded in 1985, Certicom's corporate offices are in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada with worldwide sales and marketing headquarters in Reston, Virginia and offices in Europe and Asia. Visit www.certicom.com.
SOURCE Certicom Corp.