Dell Matches HP's $27 per Share Bid for 3 PAR

August 27, 2010

Dell said that 3Par has accepted Dell's latest offer of $27 per share, which puts the total value of the cash offer at approximately $1.8 billion.

The bid matches the latest counteroffer from Hewlett-Packard. The offer represents a 50 percent increase from Dell's first offer.

The new Dell-3PAR accord was reached under a provision in the existing agreement between the companies that allows Dell to match competing bids.

Dell continues to believe that the acquisition of 3PAR, with its industry-leading storage technology, is important to its customers and will enhance Dell’s position in utility-storage solutions. Consistent with its previous rationale for the acquisition, Dell also believes that its global brand and broad global reach will dramatically accelerate 3PAR’s revenue growth.

HP's proposal to acquire all of the outstanding shares of 3PAR to $27.00 per share in cash, or an enterprise value of $1.8 billion. The proposal represents an 11 percent premium above the most recent price offered by Dell of $24.30 per share. HP’s proposal is not subject to any financing contingency and has been approved by HP’s board of directors. Once approved by 3PAR’s board, HP expects the transaction to close by the end of the calendar year.

On Thursday, HP bid $27 per share for 3Par to trump Dell's second proposal, at $24.30

Originally, Dell offered to buy 3Par for $18 per share, or about $1.15 billion total. A week later, HP countered with a $24 per share offer.

“Our revised proposal offers superior value to 3PAR’s shareholders, while maintaining our disciplined approach to only pursuing acquisitions that we believe will strengthen our portfolio and create long-term value for our shareholders,” said Dave Donatelli, executive vice president and general manager, Enterprise Servers, Storage and Networking, HP. “Not only is our offer superior to Dell’s proposal, HP remains uniquely positioned to execute on this combination given the number of synergies between the two companies.”

The addition of 3PAR’s next-generation storage architecture will accelerate HP’s Converged Infrastructure strategy, providing customers with an unmatched portfolio of intellectual property across storage, server and networking solutions. 3PAR’s high-performance storage systems will further strengthen HP’s ability to deliver the highest levels of performance, efficiency and scalability to customers worldwide. The combination will bolster HP’s storage offerings and diversify its portfolio across key growth markets.