Dell has signed an agreement to acquire 3PAR, a provider of virtualized
storage solutions with data management features, including dynamic tiering and
thin provisioning, for multitenant cloud-computing environments. The
transaction is valued at approximately $1.15 billion, net of 3PAR's cash. The
board of directors of each company approved terms of the acquisition, a company
release stated.
Dell said it plans to make 3PAR an integral part of its storage portfolio,
including PowerVault, EqualLogic and Dell/EMC.
With 3PAR, Dell will offer systems and customer choice at every storage tier,
from direct-attach to highly virtualized, clustered SANs. 3PAR was founded in
1999 and is headquartered in Fremont, Calif.
After closing, Dell said it plans to maintain and invest in additional
engineering and sales capability. There are no plans to move the current
operations.
3PAR's storage arrays are designed to overcome the limitations of
traditional modular and monolithic arrays. Earlier this month, the company
released the InForm Management Console, designed to simplify remote replication
configuration and administration, and which provides usability in administering
all models of the InServ Storage Server. Integration with the company's Remote
Copy software provides autonomic configuration of disaster recovery, which
enables users to set up remote replication with InServ T-Class, InServ F-Class
or a combination of 3PAR arrays from a single window.
"We have aligned our storage offerings over the last several years to
provide our customers choice and value," said Brad Anderson, Dell senior
vice president of the enterprise product group. "3PAR brings the same
values of performance, agility and ease of use to higher-end, virtualized
storage deployments as EqualLogic does for the entry-level and midrange,
rounding out our industry-leading solutions portfolio."
Under the terms of the agreement, Dell will commence a tender offer to
acquire all of the outstanding common stock of 3PAR for $18 per share in cash.
The transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions, is expected
to close before the end of the year. Based on current estimates, the
transaction is expected to be accretive to Dell non-GAAP earnings in its fiscal
year 2012.
"3PAR has consistently provided customers with the ability to do more
with less," said David Scott, president and CEO
of 3PAR. "With Dell we combine a powerful, virtualized storage platform
with an outstanding distribution network to deliver this value to an even
broader set of customers."
