Dell Inc. (DELL) is drawing up a sweetened offer for data-storage provider 3Par Inc. (PAR) after its earlier bid was topped by a $1.6 billion proposal by Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), according to a report on Bloomberg’s website.
The report, whit cited one person familiar with the matter, said Dell may send the offer within days.
Last week, Dell had agreed to pay about $1.15 billion, or $18 per share for 3Par. It couldn’t be determined how much Dell planned to boost its price. Shares of Fremont-based 3Par soared more than 42 percent Monday to $25.30 after Palo Alto-based HP made an offer of $1.6 billion to acquire the company. HP is offering to buy 3Par for $24 a share.
Some analysts are questioning whether Dell can come up with a big enough number to knock HP out of the running. “HP is going to win,” Wedbush Securities analyst Kaushik Roy told Bloomberg. “Dell just doesn’t have that ammunition. HP has the balance sheet to buy anything”.
Kaushik also said that the bidding war it’s not about valuation at this point and that the amount of premium these guys are paying is simply “insane”.
Dell fell 43 cents, or 3.60 percent, to $11.51 at 12:19 p.m. ET in Nasdaq trading. 3Par advanced 67 cents, or 2.59 percent, to $26.76.
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