Critical Path was a provider of messaging services, working with mobile operators, telecommunications companies, ISPs, and enterprises. It was acquired on December 4, 2013 by Openwave Messaging.[1][2][3] On March 2, 2016, it was announced that Synchronoss Technologies agreed to acquire Openwave Messaging.[4]
History
Critical Path, Inc. was founded in 1997 by David C. Hayden[5] and Wayne de Geere III[6] as a provider of outsourced email service to ISPs. In 1998 they hired a new CEO, Doug Hickey and acquired Usenet provider Supernews. The company went public on March 29, 1999. The IPO was covered favorably by the trade press at the time.[7] In early 2001, nearly two years after their IPO, a series of lawsuits against Critical Path were filed over hiring practices, accounting irregularities, and securities fraud,[8][9] culminating in a management shakeup and SEC action against the company's President, David Thatcher, and other executives.[10] Thatcher and two others pleaded guilty and were sentenced to jail terms from three months to one year.[11] In 2005 their stock was delisted by Nasdaq.[12]
In 2007 the company went private[12] and in 2008 sold Supernews to Giganews.[13]
In October 2010, Critical Path and Mirapoint, a secure enterprise messaging company, announced their decision to merge.[14]
