HP and Dell still rutting over 3Par despite claims of victory

by Steven Mostyn - Aug 27 2010, 06:28

Early on Thursday, it appeared the 3Par tug-of-war was over after computer heavyweight Dell Inc. announced its improved bid of $1.62 billion USD ($24.30 USD per share) had been accepted by the Freemont-based data storage specialist.

However, it would appear bidding rival Hewlett-Packard (HP), which also happens to be the world’s leading computer manufacturer, is unwilling to let 3Par slip through its fingers, regardless of Dell’s claims of victory.

HP has tabled yet another improved offer for 3Par, once again trumping Dell in the process. And, rather than throwing an extra 30 cents per share onto its offer, HP has shown a clear intent by boosting its figures to a whopping $1.8 billion USD, or $27 USD per share.

An initial acquisition offer of $1.15 billion USD ($18 USD per share) had been submitted by Dell on Monday of this week. HP immediately countered Dell’s action by pushing a far superior offer of $1.6 billion USD, or $24 USD per share.

So why all the fuss over 3Par, you may be asking. Evidently, HP and Dell are eager to secure the company in order to obtain a technology called ‘thin provisioning’, which would likely play an integral part in helping sell cloud-based computing to customers.

Thin provisioning is a scalable process whereby only as much storage space as needed is assigned at any given moment, enabling the technology holder to offers its customers a significantly more efficient service whilst also cutting down on data-storage costs.

According to 3Par, its storage system technology can cut storage administration costs by up to 90 percent, while savings to infrastructure could be as high as 75 percent.

If 3Par turns to a rival bid after initially accepting Dell’s offer, it will be forced to pay out some $74 million USD in compensation.

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