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Technology giant Hewlett-Packard announced that it has signed a definitive
agreement to acquire ArcSight, a security and compliance management company,
for $43.50 per share, or an enterprise value of $1.5 billion. HP said the
acquisition of ArcSight will result in improved security, reduced risk and
facilitated compliance at a lower cost for its customers.

HP claims ArcSight’s technology is "highly complementary" to HP’s
existing security portfolio of hardware, software and services.

Together, the two companies said they plan to deliver broader visibility
through a comprehensive view of all events across IT operations; security and
compliance; a deeper context with the ability to detect threats and risks by
correlating both activity and state changes in real time; and better continuity
through a constant feedback loop between build, manage and monitor to ensure
that enterprises remain secure.

"From a security perspective, the perimeter of today’s enterprise is
porous, putting enormous pressure on clients’ risk and compliance
systems," said Bill Veghte, executive vice president of Software and
Solutions at HP. "The combination of HP and ArcSight will provide clients
with the ability to fortify their applications, proactively monitor events and
respond to threats."

The acquisition will be conducted by means of a cash tender offer for all of
ArcSight’s outstanding shares of common stock. The closing of the acquisition,
which is subject to customary closing conditions, is expected to occur by the
end of the calendar year. The company’s flagship product, the ArcSight
Enterprise Threat and Risk Management (ETRM) platform, helps enable businesses
and government agencies proactively safeguard digital assets; comply with
corporate and regulatory policy; and control the internal and external risks
associated with cyber-theft, cyber-fraud, cyber-warfare and cyber-espionage.

Tom Reilly, president and CEO of ArcSight,
said HP’s acquisition of his company will enable the creation of a new type of
security solution, one that serves the modern enterprise. "By combining
ArcSight’s ETRM platform with HP’s breadth of application development and
operations management solutions, HP will be able to offer an integrated security
platform that delivers broader visibility, deeper context and faster
remediation of enterprise-wide security and risk-related events," he said.
"In a world where perimeter security is no longer enough, businesses need
this holistic approach to securing their networks, applications and sensitive
data."