Palo Alto-Based HP Trumps Dell's Offer for Fremont-Based 3Par

Palo Alto, Calif. -- Trumping a week-old bid from rival Dell, Palo Alto-based HP on Monday offered $1.6 billion for Fremont-based data storage provider 3Par. HP will pay $24 a share under the deal, up from Dell's offer of $18 a share, or about $1.15 billion. The news sent shares of 3Par up 43% in Monday's midday trading on the New York Stock Exchange.  If approved by 3Par's board of directors, the deal could close by the end of this year. HP said that the acquisition would bolster its storage offerings and diversify its portfolio across key growth markets. "We've seen great momentum with our converged infrastructure strategy, and 3Par accelerates that strategy, particularly in cloud and scale-out markets," said Dave Donatelli, HP's executive vice president and general manager of enterprise servers, storage and networking. The bidding war comes less than three weeks after Mark Hurd resigned as HP's chairman, president and CEO following an internal investigation into the possible sexual harassment of a female contractor.
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