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By Gurmukh Singh, Toronto, February
4, 2009 (IANS)
 BlackBerry
maker Research In Motion (RIM) has launched a
fresh bid to acquire Indian-owned Certicom Corp.
which supplies vital technology for its smart
phones. Based in Mississauga on the outskirts
of Toronto, Certicom, which is headed by CEO Karna
Gupta, is a global leader in encryption technology
used by RIM to build secure messaging system in
its BlackBerry smart phones. Late last year, RIM
made a $66-million "unfriendly" offer
directly to Certicom's shareholders for its takeover
after it failed through talks with its management.
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However,
Certicom succeeded in getting court injunction on
the grounds that RIM had violated non-disclosure
agreements signed by the two sides during the takeover
talks. But the BlackBerry maker is back within two
weeks to stop Certicom's friendly takeover by California-based
VeriSign Inc. In a statement Tuesday, Certicom said
it has received an offer of $131 million or $3 a
share in cash from RIM - which is double RIM's earlier
hostile bid for takeover. The RIM's offer is 43
percent more than VeriSign's offer, the statement
said, adding that it (the offer) is "open for
acceptance until noon on Feb 12, 2009".
The Certicom statement said
its special committee of independent directors
will review the BlackBerry offer, in consultation
with its financial and legal advisors because
of the company's legal obligations under its agreement
with VeriSign Inc. "If Certicom's board of
directors determines that the RIM Offer is a superior
proposal as defined in the VeriSign agreement,
VeriSign will have the right, but not the obligation,
to offer to amend the terms of the VeriSign arrangement
within a period of five business days," the
statement added.
Certicom supplies the crucial
wireless technology not only to the BlackBerry
maker, but also to Motorola, IBM and Texas Instruments
Inc. RIM, which has been become a world leader
in secure wireless communication thanks to Certicom's
encryption technology, is willing to go to any
lengths to buy this crucial company. Set up in
1985, Certicom is today the sole leader in this
crucial technology. The company's shares rose
slightly on the Toronto stock exchange on RIM's
takeover bid.
Karna Gupta Chief Executive
Officer
In January of 2008, Karna
Gupta was named CEO and a member of the Board
of Directors of Certicom. Mr. Gupta brings with
him 27 years of high-tech experience both in public
and private companies. Prior to his appointment
at Certicom, Mr. Gupta held the role of President
for the Real-Time Billing Division of Comverse
Technologies in New Jersey. In this role, he had
the responsibility of setting the strategic direction
for the Billing Division, managing a globally-distributed
workforce and serving a global customer base.
His previous role in Comverse was Chief Marketing
Officer for Comverse Americas. Mr. Gupta also
held several executive leadership positions with
Bell Canada, including Vice President, Product
Development and Management.
He holds a Bachelor of Commerce
degree and a Master of Business Administration
degree in Marketing and Finance from Concordia
University in Montreal, Quebec. He has also attended
executive development programs at Duke University,
Harvard/MIT and the University of Western Ontario.
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