HP turns up heat in tug of war over 3PAR

 

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By Reuters

Posted on 27 Aug 2010 at 08:57

Hewlett-Packard has raised its bid for data storage company 3PAR to $1.8bn, dealing a blow to Dell’s $1.6bn effort to win a rapidly escalating bidding war.

HP made its counteroffer just hours after Dell had raised its previous bid by a third, in a bidding war that is growing increasingly competitive.

HP, whose $115bn annual revenue compares with Dell's $53bn, is widely seen as having the upper hand.

"Even though Dell has the balance sheet to step up the offer, they're probably reaching the upper limits of what they can offer," said Rodman & Renshaw analyst Ashok Kumar. "At the end of the day, Hewlett-Packard is in a better position to close the deal."