The battle to control the virtualized data center of the future
heated up on Thursday, as Hewlett-Packard announced a deal to
purchase 3Com for USD 2.7 billion.
3Com will bring a wide-ranging portfolio of network switching,
routing, and security solutions to HP. The technology will boost
HP's already potent networking offerings, which are centered in HP
Procurve.
"By acquiring 3Com, we are accelerating the execution of our
converged infrastructure strategy and bringing disruptive change to
the networking industry," HP executive VP Dave Donatelli said in a
statement.
HP's converged infrastructure architecture, announced November 4,
essentially creates a one-stop data-center shop. It packages HP's
compute, storage, and networking offerings into a highly
virtualized bundle which can be centrally managed.
That move came shortly after Cisco linked up with EMC and VMware in
a partnership which tightly integrates storage alongside
easy-to-manage virtualized data-center bundles called V-Blocks.
The 3Com acquisition broadens the networking technology HP can fold
into its data-center offerings. "Our extensive product line and
innovative technology together with HP's breadth and scale will
expand our global opportunity," said 3Com CEO Bob Mao.
In announcing the deal, HP added that "the acquisition of 3Com will
dramatically expand HP's Ethernet switching offerings, add routing
solutions, and significantly strengthen the company's position in
China."
The deal is constituted as a stock buy, with HP offering USD 7.90
per share in cash for 3Com's stock, for a total value of
approximately USD 2.7 billion. The terms of the transaction have
already been approved by both HP's and 3Com's boards of directors.
The acquisition is expected to close in the first half of calendar
year 2010.