HP Wins 3PAR Battle Over Dell

Hewlett-Packard Co. has won the bidding war for 3PAR Inc., when the $200 million storage vendor accepted HP’s latest $33 a share, or $2.4 billion, offer and rejected a last ditch $32 per share revised proposal from Dell Inc.

Dell subsequently said that it will not raise its offer for 3PAR and will withdraw from the bidding.

“We took a measured approach throughout the process and have decided to end these discussions,” said Dave Johnson, Dell senior vice president, corporate strategy.

HP outbid Dell four times over the three-week long tussle for 3PAR, which began when Dell tendered a friendly $18 bid on August 16 and HP surprisingly entered the fray with a substantially higher $24 a share offer.

3PAR said that its board rejected Dell’s last offer partly because it found “unacceptable” a proposed multi-year reseller agreement that would survive a 3PAR change in ownership, including HP or any other third party.

Dell also sought a $92 million termination fee should it not prevail in the negotiations, a $20 million increase from the previous agreement, 3PAR said.

3PAR said that owing to the timing of Dell’s last offer, its prior agreement with the computer maker will not expire for three business days.