3Par Accepts Dell's Latest Offer, Trumps HP By 30 Cents Per Share

3Par has accepted Dell’s increased offer of $24.30 per share in cash, or approximately 30 cents per share higher than Hewlett-Packard's offer from earlier this week.

Dell had signed an agreement Aug. 16 to acquire the storage vendor for $18 per share, but HP came back with an offer of $24 per share on Aug. 23. The latest offer by Dell trumps HP's offer.

Dell's original agreement with 3Par included a provision to match competitive bids. Dell and 3Par have amended their original agreement to reflect the new offer price, according to Dell. Some observers have speculated that HP made an official bid only to drive up the final price that Dell would pay.

But Dell appears to happy with its acquisition.

"Over the past several years, Dell has invested heavily in the IP and infrastructure necessary to provide customers with a comprehensive and differentiated set of storage solutions," Dell said in a statement. "The 3Par acquisition complements and extends the breath of Dell's storage portfolio. Dell's capabilities offer customers a unified enterprise environment that includes all storage categories from direct attached storage (DAS) to fibre channel."

3Par will complement Dell's expanding storage business, which has seen significant growth over the last three years since it acquired EqualLogic. "Storage is at the forefront of this [data center] strategy," said Dave Johnson, senior vice president of Dell corporate strategy, in a statement. "With the 3PAR acquisition, Dell with have the broadest set of differentiated storage solutions in the market today."