Remember all of the hoopla surrounding RIM’s hostile takeover of Certicom? Well the Ontario Securities Commission sure does, as it’s alleging that former RIM VP Paul Donald personally profited from the deal thanks to some insider trading. The OSC claims that back in August of 2008, Donald was attending a RIM function where RIM top brass informed him that they were actively trying to acquire the software encryption specialists Certicom — a company whose technology is used in every single BlackBerry smartphone. Although Donald was told that Certicom was resisting the takeover, he quickly purchased 200,000 shares in the company after learning it was “dramatically undervalued,” and shortly thereafter RIM announced its intentions to purchase. That announcement also had RIM run afoul of the OSC, as Certicom’s board asked the commission to block the buyout on the grounds that Certicom investors would get a raw deal. Despite this, the aquisition eventually went through which saw Donald net $295,000 in profit. Donald, who the OSC said acted, “with knowledge of material facts about Certicom that had not been generally disclosed,” and whose purchase of the shares were, “contrary to the public interest,” will be front and center as the OSC holds a hearing on June 7th.
