The bidding war that left data company 3Par feeling pretty good about itself but will forever leave scars between Dell and HP, has ended after HP’s offer of $33 per share.
Dell has decided not to match HP’s offer, relinquishing the burgeoning tech company to HP’s possession.
“We took a measured approach throughout the process and have decided to end these discussions,” said Dell senior VP Dave Johnson in a statement.
It’s a coup for HP, the #1 maker of PCs, as it prevents an offensive move from formidable competitor Dell. The two were in a bidding war for nearly three weeks over who would get to buy out 3Par, an 11-year-old company that specializes in enterprise data storage services, was only selling for around $9.64 per share on the stock market before the public bidding fight began.
Dell prompted the discussion by publicly offering to buy the company at $18 per share. HP swung out and effectively canceled the transaction, and now it gets to nab 3Par and all its utility storage glory – at nearly twice Dell’s original offer. Buying out a company at more than triple its market value is almost unheard of but it speaks volumes about the industry’s current mindset of acquiring anything pretty that comes along.
This is the second headlining acquisition for HP this year. A few months ago it closed its deal to buy out the fledgling Palm company and it immediately started working on new Palm-branded products.
