Dell raises 3Par bid, tops HP slightly

Dell on Thursday raised its bid for storage vendor 3Par in an effort to thwart a rival offer from Hewlett-Packard.

In a statement, Dell said it would offer $24.30 a share in cash, or $1.6 billion, for 3Par. Dell had to raise its initial offer of $1.15 billion after HP offered $24 a share for 3Par.

Dell's initial offer included a provision to match competing bids.

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3Par is garnering a lot of interest since it's one of the few independent high-end storage vendors left. The game plan for both HP and Dell is similar: Take 3Par's technology and distribute it through a large sales channel.

Dell said:

Over the past several years, Dell has invested heavily in the IP and infrastructure necessary to provide customers with a comprehensive and differentiated set of storage solutions. The 3PAR acquisition complements and extends the breath of Dell’s storage portfolio. Dell’s capabilities offer customers a unified enterprise environment that includes all storage categories from direct attached storage (DAS) to fibre channel.

Dell believes that its global brand and broad global customer reach will dramatically accelerate 3PAR’s revenue growth. Dell has a demonstrated commitment and track record in integrating and growing acquired companies and nurturing their entrepreneurial and innovative cultures, as illustrated by the dramatic growth of the EqualLogic iSCSI storage business over the last three years.

Now comes the interesting part. Will HP go higher? Dell's bid was only 30 cents a share higher than HP's offer. And HP has the balance sheet to go higher.

Related:

• Dell may up 3Par bid; Winner's curse could follow
• IT Bidding War: HP outbids Dell for 3PAR
• Dell beefs up storage, but EMC partnership could be strained
• What the Dell 3Par deal means to the datacenter
• With 3Par, Dell covers its data center storage bases