It didn’t work out for Research in Motion (RIM), but VeriSign says it will buy Certicom for $73 million, or about 40% more than an earlier unsolicited offer by RIM.
Certicom's leadership in elliptic curve cryptography (ECC) technology allows VeriSign to develop adjacent market opportunities closely aligned with its core SSL business, said Jim Bidzos, VeriSign executive chairman and interim CEO, in a statement.
The deal was unanimously approved by Certicom’s board of directors and is expected to close in March pending shareholder approval. If the buyout goes through, it will bring VeriSign into the fore with ECC, a form of public-key encryption. The company plans to use the technology as a way to break into emerging markets, where it will use ECC as a way to secure data communications.
The buyout comes after Certicom turned away an attempt last year by RIM to acquire the company. Certicom sought an injunction against RIM, which was granted when the Ontario Superior Court of Justice ultimately found that RIM had breached non-disclosure agreements.