SimpliVity CEO: We're Not In Acquisition Talks With HP Or Anyone Else
SimpliVity, a Westborough, Mass.-based startup in the "hyper-converged" infrastructure market, is telling employees and partners that it's not in talks to be acquired by Hewlett-Packard, as CRN reported earlier this week.
In an email sent Tuesday to SimpliVity's sales, marketing and product management teams, CEO Doron Kempel said a recent rumor that HP is acquiring the company for $2 billion isn't true.
"We are not in dialogue with anyone regarding the acquisition of SimpliVity; and we have not been in dialogue with anyone regarding such matter. Our focus is on growth and on our customers," Kempel said in the email, which was viewed by CRN.
[Related: Sources: Hewlett-Packard In Talks To Acquire Hyper-Converged Infrastructure Startup SimpliVity ]
Sources told CRN earlier this week it's unclear how much HP would be willing to pay for SimpliVity, whose OmniCube product combines compute, storage backup and deduplication, networking, WAN optimization, and other enterprise technologies on x86 server hardware.
In the email, Kempel didn't mention where the $2 billion figure came from, but pointed the finger at "discouraged competitors" that are spreading "false rumors" in order to slow SimpliVity's "exceptional customer and partner growth."
SimpliVity's main competitor is Nutanix, a San Jose, Calif.-based startup that has acquired a reputation for aggressive marketing. Though Kempel didn't call out Nutanix by name, this is probably who he's referring to.
While SimpliVity doesn't respond to rumors as a matter of policy, it's making an exception in this case, Kempel said in the email. He also gave employees the go-ahead to forward the email to customers and partners.
HP declined comment, and SimpliVity wasn't immediately available for comment.
SimpliVity has raised $101.5 million since its founding in 2009, with a $58 million Series C round last November. Investors include Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Swisscom Ventures, Accel Partners, Meritech Capital Partners, Charles River Ventures and DFJ Growth, according to CrunchBase.
HP has a large converged infrastructure portfolio, but it doesn't include so-called hyper-converged infrastructure, in which compute, storage and server virtualization all run on x86 hardware with proprietary software running on top.
NEXT: The Full Text Of The SimpliVity Email
From: Doron Kempel <[email protected]>
Date: June 10, 2014 at 11:40:17 AM CDT
To: MarketingTeam <[email protected]>, Product Management <[email protected]>, AllSales <[email protected]>
Subject: SimpliVity' success and false rumors regarding $2B acquisition
Team,
Thank you for the continuous effort and focus.
We are making excellent progress building momentum and gaining recognition as the technology and market leader in true hyper-convergence and SDDC. With the exceptional customer and partner growth come industry awards and attention. However, as anticipated, with the extraordinary success and momentum, discouraged competitors are diverting their efforts to include false rumors, on the hope that this will slow us down. It will not.
Yesterday, a rumor was generated whereby HP is acquiring SimpliVity for $2 Billion.
This is not true. We are not in dialog with anyone regarding the acquisition of SimpliVity; and we have not been in dialog with anyone regarding such matter. Our focus is on growth and on our customers.
Our policy is not to respond to rumors. I am deviating from our policy, just this time. You are allowed to selectively forward this e-mail to your customers or partners, if they are concerned about the rumor.
Please stay focused and weather this minor matter.
Thanks,
Doron Kempel
CEO
SimpliVity Corporation