Dell ups offer for 3PAR to $1.6B, tops HP

The bidding war with Hewlett-Packard continues to escalate

The bidding war between Dell and Hewlett-Packard for virtualized storage vendor 3PAR continued on Thursday, with Dell increasing its bid to US$24.30 per share, or about $1.6 billion.

The offer has been accepted by 3PAR, according to Dell. It tops a $24 per share offer made by HP earlier this week.

Tech M&A deals of 2010

To continue reading, register here and become an Insider. You'll get free access to premium content from CIO, Computerworld, CSO, InfoWorld, and Network World. See more Insider content or sign in.

The bidding war between Dell and Hewlett-Packard for virtualized storage vendor 3PAR continued on Thursday, with Dell increasing its bid to US$24.30 per share, or about $1.6 billion.

The offer has been accepted by 3PAR, according to Dell. It tops a $24 per share offer made by HP earlier this week.

Tech M&A deals of 2010

Dell had originally inked a deal to buy 3PAR for $18 per share, or roughly $1.15 billion, but the agreement had a provision for matching competitive offers, according to a statement.

Dell expects the deal to close before the end of this year.

3PAR is known for its thin provisioning capabilities, which supply storage resources on demand. The approach is said to be more efficient than traditional "fat provisioning," a process that dedicates an excess amount of storage to an application in anticipation of future needs.

HP could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday.

Chris Kanaracus covers enterprise software and general technology breaking news for The IDG News Service. Chris's e-mail address is Chris_Kanaracus@idg.com

The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.