RIMM Must Drop Its Offer for Certicom, Will New Bidders Emerge?

While Research In Motion Ltd. (RIMM) intends to appeal a decision that said it breached non-disclosure agreements, the Ontario Superior Court judgement means the BlackBerry maker has to drop its C$1.50 per share offer for security software maker Certicom Corp. (CERTF.PK).

The injuction provides enough time for other bidders to formulate an offer, according to Blackmont Capital analyst Lawrence Rhee.

“We believe there are several global companies that have signed non-disclosure agreements and have had access to Certicom’s data-room,” he said in a research note.

So while RIM remains a strong candidate, other global corporations will likely bid more as the offer attributed limited value for Certicom’s broad basket of patents and patents pending, Mr. Rhee said. However, he noted that RIM now needs to get Certicom’s consent or be in compliance with non-disclosure agreements to proceed with another offer.

Blackmont rates Certicom a “speculative buy” with a C$2.00 price target.

Comments

[Hayweed]

The bigger concern is the options back dating by Rimm. Will Basille have to resign is now a big cloud.

2009 Jan 22 09:03 AM

[Hal90000]

Verisign's bid is still too low. EMC or IBM are taking a look. That's is why the stock is trading above VRSN's offer price.

2009 Jan 23 02:28 PM