HP Bids for 3PAR

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Hewlett-Packard(HPQ) has proposed buying data storage company 3PAR(PAR) for $24 a share in cash or $1.6 billion, which HP said is a superior proposal with significant premium to Dell's(DELL) agreement to buy 3PAR for $1.15 billion.

Dell's agreement was announced last week.

The proposed transaction represents a 33.3% premium above the price proposed by Dell. HP said that once its offer is approved by 3PAR's board, HP expects the transaction to close by the end of the calendar year.

HP said the addition of 3PAR's next-generation storage architecture will accelerate HP's converged infrastructure strategy.

HP said it will host a conference call for financial analysts and stockholders today at 9 a.m. EDT to discuss its proposal to acquire 3PAR.

Shares of HP have fallen 1.1% to $39.40 in premarket trading Monday, while 3PAR shares shot up 37.3% to $24.76. Dell's stock is up 1.7% to $12.28.

-- Reported by Andrea Tse in New York

Get more stock ideas and investing advice on our sister site, Stockpickr.com.

Follow TheStreet.com on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

Follow Andrea Tse on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

>To order reprints of this article, click here: Reprints