Dell ended its quest to acquire 3PAR on Thursday after 3PAR
declined to accept its renewed bid that included a sweetened
termination bid approaching USD 100 million. HP is acquiring the
small storage company with cloud computing expertise for more than
USD 2.3 billion.
"We took a measured approach throughout the process and have
decided to end these discussions," said Dell's senior vice
president for corporate strategy Dave Johnson in a statement. Dell
is still entitled to a USD 72 million termination fee, the company
said.
HP's offer early Thursday of USD 33 a share was enough to clinch
the acquisition. Dell had started the bidding with an USD
18-a-share offer on August 16. Before that offer was made, 3PAR
stock had been trading below USD 10 a share. 3PAR went public at
USD 14 a share in 1999. Both Dell and HP have large cash war chests
of over USD 12 billion so there were some indications the bidding
could rise to even more astronomical levels.
The high premium paid for 3PAR seems to underscore the dearth of
storage companies available to help fuel the galloping growth of
cloud computing.
The HP acquisition is a victory of sorts for HP's vice president
Dave Donatelli, who had just moved over to HP's storage operation
after being restricted from working in storage activities for a
year after leaving EMC in a contentious exit. Donatelli had been a
rising star at EMC and now the victorious acquisition of 3PAR makes
him a rising star at HP.