Research in Motions (RIM) acquisition of Certicom (TSE:CIC) the security specialist has turned hostile although once thought a natural deal.

The BlackBerry maker has announced that it will extend its expiry date of its offer from January 15 to January 27.

With RIM already licensing Certicom’s Elliptic Curve Cryptography products for its range of BlackBerry Devices the deal seemed inevitable, but the two firms have been in discussions since February 2007, with RIM bidding about $53 million for Certicom in December.

However management at Certicom felt the other was too low and is against the buyout, and they have been urging stockholders to vote against the takeover.

Certicom said in a letter to its stockholders that RIM are attempting to acquire nearly $2.00 in potential tax benefits and cash for $1.50, this would be undervaluing Certicom’s operations and valuable assets.

Source: networkcomputing