Dell Inc. on Thursday announced that it is in "advanced discussions" to buy Compellent Technologies Inc., a provider of enterprise storage solutions that automate the movement and management of data.
The two companies said they have entered into an "exclusivity agreement" to negotiate a merger deal in which Dell would acquire Compellent for 27.50 U.S. dollars a share in cash.
The bid would value Compellent at 875 million dollars, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.
In a joint statement, the two companies also cautioned that " there can be no assurances that an agreement will be reached or that a transaction will be consummated."
"Dell and Compellent do not intend to comment further until an agreement is reached or discussions are terminated," the statement said.
Headquartered in Eden Prairie in the U.S. state of Minnesota, Compellent now has more than 3,000 systems installed in 35 countries and regions, and is billed as one of the fastest growing enterprise storage companies in the world.
Dell's move came three months after it was outbid by rival Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP) for 3PAR Inc., another date storage company.
HP won the high-profile bidding war for 3Par in September with an offer of about 2.35 billion dollars.
The two companies said they have entered into an "exclusivity agreement" to negotiate a merger deal in which Dell would acquire Compellent for 27.50 U.S. dollars a share in cash.
The bid would value Compellent at 875 million dollars, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.
In a joint statement, the two companies also cautioned that " there can be no assurances that an agreement will be reached or that a transaction will be consummated."
"Dell and Compellent do not intend to comment further until an agreement is reached or discussions are terminated," the statement said.
Headquartered in Eden Prairie in the U.S. state of Minnesota, Compellent now has more than 3,000 systems installed in 35 countries and regions, and is billed as one of the fastest growing enterprise storage companies in the world.
Dell's move came three months after it was outbid by rival Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP) for 3PAR Inc., another date storage company.
HP won the high-profile bidding war for 3Par in September with an offer of about 2.35 billion dollars.
