Dell to Buy 3par for $1.15 Billion

Highlights:

• 3PAR extends Dell’s storage capabilities, enabling Dell to help customers capitalize on the ‘Virtual Era,’ with a goal of reducing overall data management costs by 50 percent
• 3PAR provides a virtualized, utility storage platform addressing limitations of monolithic and modular arrays; reducing storage administration costs by up to 90 percent and infrastructure costs by up to 75 percent
• 3PAR’s multi-tenant, clustered architecture enables IT organizations to deliver software and hardware as a service, offering an agile, efficient storage infrastructure platform optimized for highly-virtualized data centers and cloud computing
• 3PAR accelerates Dell’s momentum in delivering open, capable and affordable storage options, adding to its industry-leading portfolio of PowerVault, EqualLogic and Dell/EMC

Dell Inc. has signed an agreement to acquire 3PAR, Inc., provider of highly-virtualized storage solutions with advanced data management features, including dynamic tiering and thin provisioning, for multi-tenant cloud-computing environments. The transaction is valued at approximately $1.15 billion, net of 3PAR’s cash. Terms of the acquisition were approved by the board of directors of each company.

In the ‘Virtual Era,’ Dell is driving an open and integrated approach to data management. Dell is delivering increased efficiency with a goal of radically reducing data management costs and significantly streamlining operations. These savings enable Dell customers to make room in their budgets for other strategic investments. 3PAR’s product portfolio complements Dell’s goal to make IT simpler and more affordable.

                              Dell Portfolio in Storage, Including 3PAR

As a pioneer of thin provisioning and other storage virtualization technologies, 3PAR has designed its products to minimize upfront and ongoing capacity purchases, and to reduce power consumption and energy costs. 3PAR’s multi-tenant, clustered storage architecture is the underlying technology platform for IT organizations to build agile and efficient virtualized IT infrastructures for flexible workload consolidation. 3PAR provides rapid provisioning and predictable performance for customers facing ever-increasing storage capacity requirements.

3PAR’s storage arrays are designed to overcome the limitations of traditional modular and monolithic arrays. 3PAR addresses the problem of costly, complex, and rigid IT environments and enables organizations to treat storage as a utility – allowing them to use and pay for only the capacity and performance they need, and only when they use it.

Dell plans to make 3PAR an integral part of its industry-leading storage portfolio, including PowerVault, EqualLogic and Dell/EMC. With 3PAR, Dell will offer innovative systems and customer choice at every storage tier, from direct-attach to highly-virtualized, clustered SANS.

3PAR was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Fremont. After closing, Dell plans to maintain and invest in additional engineering and sales capability. There are no plans to move the current operations.

Tender Offer, Closing and Initial Integration
Under the terms of the agreement, Dell will commence a tender offer to acquire all of the outstanding common stock of 3PAR for $18 per share in cash. The transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions, is expected to close before the end of the year.

Based on current estimates, the transaction is expected to be accreditive to Dell non-GAAP earnings in its Fiscal Year 2012.

"We have aligned our storage offerings over the last several years to provide our customers choice and value," said Brad Anderson, Dell senior vice president, Enterprise Product Group. "3PAR brings the same values of performance, agility and ease-of-use to higher end, virtualized storage deployments as EqualLogic does for the entry-level and mid-range, rounding out our industry-leading solutions portfolio."

"3PAR has consistently provided customers with the ability to do more with less," said David Scott, President and CEO of 3PAR. "With Dell we combine a powerful, virtualized storage platform with an outstanding distribution network to deliver this value to an even broader set of customers."