3Par War – HP is the winner!

With an amount of over $2.3 million, Hewlett Packard has won the bidding war for the possession of the data storage company that was on demand lately, 3Par. HP’s final offer was $33 per share, an amount 3Par has accepted, ending the bidding war. Dell will receive a termination fee of $76 million.

The bidding war was started by Dell – the first offer was $18 per share. HP expressed its interest in the company, raising the bid to $23, and later to $24 for every 3Par share, and finally hitting the competition with an offer 3Par could not refuse: $33.

The data storage company’s shares rose over 2%, to $32.86 – their shares were traded for less than $10 before Dell’s starting bid.

Analysts say HP’s move was interesting – 3Par has barely made any profit since its launch in 1999, and it was sold at over eight times its value. HP’s acquisition might be a wise move though, as the data storage solutions offered by 3Par could strengthen its position on the emerging cloud computing market.