EMC to buy Iomega for $213 million

EMC has struck a deal to buy Iomega for $213 million, the companies announced Tuesday. (View slideshow of 2008's hottest M&A deals.)

Just four weeks ago, Iomega, a data backup and storage device maker based in San Diego, resisted a hostile takeover bid launched by EMC. The first offer was for $3.25 per share or $178 million, while the price agreed upon Tuesday was $3.85 per share for $213 million. Iomega’s actual stock price closed at $3.64 Tuesday.

EMC said the acquisition will expand its reach into rapidly growing consumer and small business markets.

“Iomega will play a key role in EMC’s strategy to expand our information storage and management capabilities deeper into the high-growth consumer and small business markets,” EMC CEO Joe Tucci said in a press release.

Iomega itself signed a deal in December to purchase two hardware vendors indirectly owned by the Chinese government, in deals Iomega said would nearly quadruple its annual sales to $1.1 billion.

Iomega’s board unanimously rejected EMC’s first takeover bid on March 10. But on Tuesday Iomega CEO Jonathan Huberman said the acquisition would allow Iomega “to fully leverage EMC’s vast assets to grow our business globally.”

EMC said the deal is expected to close in the second quarter of this year subject to regulatory approvals. Iomega will serve as the core of a new consumer and small business products division.

Iomega already sells EMC Retrospect backup software, which is packaged with Iomega’s external hard drives. Iomega also planned to embed EMC’s LifeLine software into its multi-drive network storage products expected to be released this summer. (Compare storage products)