Seeking to beef up its storage offerings for cloud computing and enterprise IT environments, Dell today said it will acquire Compellent Technologies Inc., a maker of modular storage area network systems, for $820 million in cash.
The deal, expected to close early next year, follows Dell’s failed bid for Compellent competitor 3PAR, which HP is set to acquire. Both Dell’s and Compellent’s boards have approved the deal.
Compellent, with 2,500 customers, sells its highly scalable SAN storage management hardware and software systems to end-users as well as cloud computing service providers. The company focuses on customers in healthcare, education, government, and the financial services industry. Its customers also include pharmaceutical manufacturers Nutraceutical and ZinPro.
Dell offered $27.75 for each of Compellent’s shares. That offer was actually an 18% discount to the value of Compellent’s closing price on Friday. Compellent’s share price, however, had jumped last week on the news that Dell and Compellent were exploring a “business combination.”