3PAR has also notified Dell about its intention to terminate the merger agreement between the two companies. "(Our) board of directors has determined that the unsolicited proposal by HP to acquire all of 3PAR's outstanding common stock at USD 30 per share constitutes a superior proposal," 3PAR said in a statement on Friday.
The statement came on a day of fast-paced developments that saw both HP and Dell making higher takeover offers. HP raised its bid to USD 30 per share, just hours after 3PAR accepted Dell's revised offer of USD 27 per piece.HP's latest proposal values 3PAR at around USD 2 billion.
"The board of directors notified Dell of its intention to terminate the merger agreement with Dell...," 3PAR said on Friday. As per the existing agreement between 3PAR and Dell, the former would pay a break-up fee of USD 72 million to Dell, in case the data storage solutions firm accepts a better offer.
The buyout of 3PAR is an attractive proposition for both HP and Dell, especially against the backdrop of increasing corporate demand for data storage solutions. The acquisition would also help in bolstering the two companies' offerings in the cloud computing business. Dell on Friday hiked its bid for 3PAR to USD 27 from USD 24.30 per share yesterday. Dell's increased offer came in response to HP's higher bid of USD 27 per piece announced on Thursday.
The takeover tussle erupted after Dell's initial takeover bid of USD 18 per share on August 16 was met with a higher offer of USD 24 per piece by HP this week.