NEW YORK—Dell Inc. said on Thursday that 3Par Inc., the data storage company that has sparked a bidding war between Dell and rival Hewlett-Packard Co., has accepted its revised offer of $1.6 billion to purchase the company.
The deal values 3Par at $24.30 per share, trumping HP’s surprise bid of $24 per share bid on Sunday, as well as Dell’s original bid of about $18 per share in cash.
3Par is one of Silicon Valley’s leading providers of online storage and data management in the increasingly popular “cloud computing” space.
“Storage is at the forefront of this strategy,” said Dave Johnson, senior vice president at Dell corporate strategy, in a statement. “With the 3PAR acquisition, Dell with have the broadest set of differentiated storage solutions in the market today.”
Dell and HP, along with other computer makers, are desperately trying to diversify its offerings into new technologies and systems to better compete with industry stalwarts International Business Machines Co. and Cisco Systems Inc. as well as increase their margins.
But 3Par’s subpar financial performance may sap investor enthusiasm for the deal, especially in the initial stages. “What may emerge from this bidding war is a serious case of buyer’s remorse,” wrote ZDNet columnist Larry Dignan. “3Par’s financials don’t back up the heady valuation. 3Par in its most recent quarter delivered revenue of $54.3 million with net income of $1.01 million.”
Most fund managers surveyed by Reuters this week expect the final acquisition price for 3Par to be around $29, which takes into account multiple competing bids. As of Thursday, HP has not submitted a new revised offer, and no other suitors have emerged for the company.
The deal values 3Par at $24.30 per share, trumping HP’s surprise bid of $24 per share bid on Sunday, as well as Dell’s original bid of about $18 per share in cash.
3Par is one of Silicon Valley’s leading providers of online storage and data management in the increasingly popular “cloud computing” space.
“Storage is at the forefront of this strategy,” said Dave Johnson, senior vice president at Dell corporate strategy, in a statement. “With the 3PAR acquisition, Dell with have the broadest set of differentiated storage solutions in the market today.”
Dell and HP, along with other computer makers, are desperately trying to diversify its offerings into new technologies and systems to better compete with industry stalwarts International Business Machines Co. and Cisco Systems Inc. as well as increase their margins.
But 3Par’s subpar financial performance may sap investor enthusiasm for the deal, especially in the initial stages. “What may emerge from this bidding war is a serious case of buyer’s remorse,” wrote ZDNet columnist Larry Dignan. “3Par’s financials don’t back up the heady valuation. 3Par in its most recent quarter delivered revenue of $54.3 million with net income of $1.01 million.”
Most fund managers surveyed by Reuters this week expect the final acquisition price for 3Par to be around $29, which takes into account multiple competing bids. As of Thursday, HP has not submitted a new revised offer, and no other suitors have emerged for the company.
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