3par

Dell finally got its storage acquisition. On Monday, Dell said it is officially buying Compellent Technologies in a deal valued at $960 million, or $27.75 a share.

According to Dell, the Compellent acquisition will allow it to better focus on data management, thin provisioning and storage for cloud computing shops.

After a failed bid to acquire 3Par--Dell lost out to Hewlett-Packard--the company needed to do something to bolster its storage line-up and remain a top 5 player. EMC is the storage leader and then the field is bunched with the likes of HP, NetApp, and IBM. Dell was … Read more

A recent frenzy of storage acquisitions--with 3PAR going to HP, Isilon to EMC, and now Compellent to Dell--brings storage full-circle. Your next enterprise storage purchase? Almost guaranteed to be from a leviathan.

One of the once-amazing changes in the computer business was the birth of independent storage vendors. For decades there've been a few odd after-market and third-party storage vendors. But they were mere pilot fish congregating around the truly big, important swimmers: systems vendors. When you bought storage, it generally came from the same company that made your computer. That was the natural order.

But in the 1990s, … Read more

Hewlett-Packard said Wednesday that David Scott, who joined the company via the 3Par acquisition, will become general manager for its StorageWorks unit.

Scott was the CEO of 3Par. He will report to Dave Donatelli, executive vice president of HP's server, storage, and networking unit. Scott is already familiar with HP since he worked there before going to 3Par.

With the move, HP strengthens its management bench for its storage unit. HP will be looking to sell high-end 3Par systems throughout its channel. HP's storage portfolio includes the P4000 storage area network, StoreOnce for data deduplication, and the X9000 … Read more

Hewlett-Packard has finalized the acquisition of data-storage specialist 3Par following a successful tender for the company, according to a statement released on Monday.

The deal closed for a total of $2.35 billion, representing a cash value of $33 per share and significantly more than the $1.6 billion that HP first bid for 3Par in an effort to trump Dell.

The purchase allows HP to move into the enterprise-class public and private cloud environments. "As part of the HP Converged Infrastructure portfolio, which integrates servers, storage, networking and management technologies, 3Par solutions will further strengthen HP's ability … Read more

Apple has refreshed its iPod line and unveiled a new version of Apple TV.

During Apple's annual music-focused event in San Francisco, CEO Steve Jobs took the wraps off three new iPods: an iPod Shuffle that ditches the previous no-button style in returning to a more classic look; a smaller iPod Nano that now has a touch screen but can no longer play video; and a thinner iPod Touch that has most of the features first introduced on the iPhone 4.

Apple announced iTunes 10, available immediately, which comes with a new logo and a social music service called Ping … Read more

Hewlett-Packard on Thursday officially won storage vendor 3Par after Dell declined to match a $33 a share, or $2.4 billion, bid.

Dell's statement on the matter ended a wild bidding war that started at $18 a share for 3Par. Dell said in a statement that it will get a $72 million breakup fee. The company added that its final offer was for $32 a share.

The 3Par bidding war reflected the animosity between two fierce rivals, Dell and HP, and the fact that there aren't many enterprise storage players to buy.

Update 8:31 a.m. PDT: … Read more

Hewlett-Packard has been given the go-ahead by its board to buy back up to $10 billion of its own stock, the company announced Monday.

HP said it plans to pick up shares "opportunistically" and is targeting the repurchase as a way to manage the dilution created by stock issued to its employees.

"HP has a strong balance sheet," Cathie Lesjak, HP chief financial officer and interim CEO, said in a statement. "We plan to be active in repurchasing our shares, and we expect to repurchase at least $3 billion worth of our shares in our … Read more

Stop us if you've heard this before: Dell says 3Par has agreed to a buyout proposal. And Hewlett-Packard has made a counteroffer.

On Friday morning, Dell announced that storage company 3Par had accepted Dell's third acquisition offer, this one at $27 per share, putting the total value of the cash offer at about $1.8 billion.

That bid matched a counteroffer from HP, which came Thursday afternoon.

But wait! Two hours after Dell boosted its bid, HP did the same--it's now offering $30 a share. For those more interested in big, round numbers, HP's hot-off-the-presses offer … Read more

The bidding war for storage specialist 3Par went two more rounds Thursday.

Shortly after the market close, Hewlett-Packard raised its bid to $27 per share, up from $24. That move comes just hours after Dell juiced its own bid to $24.30, which was a counterpunch to HP's counteroffer from earlier in the week.

HP's new offer, if it's accepted, would put the total value of a 3Par acquisition at about $1.8 billion. It marks an 11 percent premium over Dell's offer Thursday morning.

"Our revised proposal offers superior value to 3Par's shareholders, … Read more