Just one day after heralding the lifting of regulatory hurdles in its bid to acquire Data Domain, NetApp was forced to face a new, sobering setback: Rival bidder EMC, deep pockets and all, was not giving up its own quest.

Storage market leader EMC, flush with its own government green light to pursue deduplication specialist Data Domain, upped its original all-cash offer by 11 percent, eclipsing NetApp’s half-cash/half-stock offer. EMC further sweetened the pie by offering to close the deal within two weeks and to lift any deal-protection provisions such as a break-up fee that would bog down the acquisition process.

NetApp on Tuesday issued a terse statement that struck a tone that if not outright defeated signaled some retreat and reflection.

"In response to EMC's revised, unsolicited offer, the NetApp Board of Directors will carefully weigh its options, keeping in mind both its fiduciary duty to its stockholders and its disciplined acquisition strategy. We will provide an update shortly," said Dan Warmenhoven, chairman and CEO of NetApp, in the statement.

A spokesperson for NetApp said it would not elaborate beyond Warmenhoven’s statement.