RIM wins battle for cryptography company Certicom

Research In Motion, maker of Blackberry phones, appears to have prevailed in its pursuit of Certicom.

RIM had been waging a bidding war for Certicom against the US company VeriSign, known primarily for digital certificates and internet security services. 

Once completed, the deal means RIM could develop BlackBerrys that work like credit and debit cards – that is, users could pay for purchases at a POS wirelessly.

RIM put a sweetened bid for Certicom on the table last week. The bid set the new value for Certicom at about US$106.5  million, more than double RIM's initial offer in December, which it withdrew in January. In a Certicom press release, the company said that VeriSign will not exercise its right to match the RIM offer.

VeriSign is entitled to a US$3.2 million termination fee payable by Certicom under their agreement announced in January. Both Certicom and Verisign shares declined on the news, while RIM's rose.

See original article on scmagazineus.com