Research In Motion outbids VeriSign for Certicom

Research In Motion (RIM) is back in the running for encryption provider Certicom, which announced on Tuesday that the BlackBerry maker outbid VeriSign.

RIM planned to pay US$2.44 per outstanding share for Certicom, double what it bid in December. It eventually bowed out of that first offer, only to have VeriSign jump in and up the ante with a US$1.67-per-share bid. That deal would have totaled US$73 million.

VeriSign now will have a chance to exceed RIM's offer, according to the company.

"If the board of directors determines that the RIM offer does not continue to be a superior proposal, the board will promptly reaffirm its recommendation of the VeriSign arrangement," Certicom said in a news release.

Certicom makes elliptic curve cryptography technology, generally considered a highly efficient form of public-key encryption.

A VeriSign spokeswoman told SCMagazineUS.com that the company was not commenting on the news.

Both RIM and Certicom are based in Canada.

See original article on scmagazineus.com