DELL HAS raised its bid for data storage firm 3Par, offering $24.30 a share and jumping over a bid by Hewlett-Packard.
Dell, in a statement, said 3Par’s board had accepted its increased offer, which is 30 cents a share above HP’s bid. Dell’s latest proposal values 3Par at $1.6 billion.
Dell previously bid $18 a share for 3PAR.
The pursuit of 3Par comes as HP and Dell, as well as other large technology vendors such as IBM and Cisco, vie to sell a wider array of products and services and invest in new technology.
3Par specialises in high-end data storage, a key part of “cloud computing” – an increasingly popular technology that enables computer users to access data and software over the internet, allowing companies to save costs.
Bidding wars are rare in the tightly knit technology sector, where deals are often made behind closed doors.
In the last notable bidding war in the tech industry, EMC outbid NetApp last year to buy Data Domain for $2.4 billion. Data Domain was advised in that deal by Frank Quattrone, the same veteran technology banker advising 3Par in the latest negotiations.
HP and Dell may have good reason to bid high for 3Par. The runners-up are too expensive or lack the products a new owner would need to compete with top data-storage providers, analysts said.
Alternatives for the loser include Compellent Technologies, which gained 8 per cent this week on takeover speculation, or closely held Xiotech.
However both sell less robust systems that may do little to help HP or Dell vie with leaders such as EMC, IBM and Hitachi, said Aaron Rakers, an analyst at Stifel Nicolaus and Co.
Another would-be target, NetAp, may prove too costly. “There’s a scarcity of what 3Par brings to the table,” Mr Rakers added.
Computer makers HP and Dell want to expand in storage as they look for more profitable businesses that can lessen their dependence on low-margin laptops and desktops. – (Reuters, Bloomberg)
