(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — Having outbid a wholly owned subsidiary of Research in Motion (www.rim.com) by about 40 percent, Internet infrastructure services provider VeriSign (www.verisign.com) has bought security provider Certicom (www.certicom.com) for $73 million.
According to VeriSign’s Friday announcement, VeriSign bought all the Canadian company’s outstanding shares for $2.10 Canadian per share, or roughly $1.67 US, representing a premium of about 26 percent over Certicom’s share price at the market’s close Thursday. Certicom provides government approved security applications used by the National Security Agency for government communications.
The acquisition of Certicom, VeriSign said, will help it gain a leadership position in Elliptic Curve Cryptography technology, an emerging form of public-key encryption that provides the most security per bit of any known public-key scheme. Certicom will also help VeriSign extend its reach in order to pursue emerging market opportunities in which ECC can help efficiently enable secure data communications.
“This transaction combines the strengths of both companies in a unique, strategic fit,” VeriSign executive chairman and interim chief executive officer Jim Bidzos said in a statement. “Certicom’s leadership in Elliptic Curve Cryptography technology allows VeriSign to develop adjacent market opportunities closely aligned with our core SSL business. We expect our customers and the market will benefit from the combination of Certicom’s high quality encryption technology and VeriSign’s proven certificate services infrastructure.”
Subject to shareholder approval, after receiving the offer and expert advice, Certicom’s Board of Directors unanimously concluded that the VeriSign transaction is in the best interests of shareholders, and recommends Certicom shareholders vote in favour of the transaction. The transaction is expected to close in March.
“The Special Committee and the Board conducted a thorough process on behalf of Certicom shareholders resulting in a significant increase in value for the Company and its owners,” Certicom chairman of the Board Jeffrey Chisholm said in a statement. “We believe this transaction also represents a very promising opportunity for our customers and employees. Joining forces with VeriSign creates wider international opportunities for our employees while customers will benefit from the combination of Certicom’s leading cryptography and VeriSign’s infrastructure.”
On Thursday, Certicom applied to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice for an injunction to stop a $1.50 Canadian hostile take-over bid from a subsidiary of RIM, the maker of the Blackberry smartphone.
Acquiring Certicom is one of a number of steps VeriSign has taken recently to expand.
In June 2008, as part of its $100 million “Project Titan” initiative, VeriSign expanded its infrastructure in Europe with the deployment of two new “Regional Internet Resolutions Sites” in Paris and Brussels, adding to its previous operations in Germany, England, Sweden, Italy, Switzerland, Ireland and Poland. The objective of Project Titan is to fortify VeriSign’s Internet infrastructure by increasing the capacity of its global Internet infrastructure 10 times by 2010.
No related posts.
