The 3Par acquisition saga continues as HP raised its bid to $2 billion or $30 per share.   The company was initially sought by Dell for $1.13 billion when it made its first offer on August 16^th.   The latest $2 billion offer is HP’s second bid and eclipses Dell’s second bid of $1.6 billion, which was also made this week.   3Par has become a much sought after prize as both companies try to bolster their storage portfolios as they compete in the growing cloud computing marketplace.    3Par’s thin client approach makes it easier and less expensive to store information than the traditional storage approach.   Storage products have become an essential piece of the puzzle as the data-center equipment market continues to expand.

The latest $2 billion offer by HP is seen by some analysts as strategic move that keeps 3Par out of Dells control more than about the 3Par’s thin client storage products.  HP already has some storage products which are similar to 3Par, whereas Dell must current purchase and resell its storage products from EMC.     Both companies believe that their sales forces can leverage 3Par products sales to a broader market.  “You just literally can target a wider addressable market,” Shannon Cross of Cross Research said. “The model has been proven to work.”

Related Links:

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-08-27/hp-tops-dell-in-3par-bidding-with-2-billion-offer.html

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gS70yoNciBw75wN3-GXQDznbYxtwD9HR80880