Dell Preparing To Counter HP's 3Par Offer

Dell DELL is reportedly preparing to raise its $1.15 billion offer to acquire data storage provider 3Par PAR after Hewlett-Packard HPQ offered $1.6 billion to acquire the company on Monday. At this point, it isn't clear how much Dell will raise its offer, but a new offer is expected in the coming days. Analysts expected HP, with $15 billion in cash, will be the ultimate victor for 3Par. HP has about twice the sales of Dell and is more than three times as profitable, according to Bloomberg News. 3Par said in a regulatory filing that it had received inquiries from two parties in addition to Dell. HP claims it has been working on the 3Par acquisition since Mark Hurd, the company's disgraced former CEO, departed earlier this month. The company has already made two purchases of more than $1 billion this year. JPMorgan Chase JPM is HP’s investment bank on the deal, Bloomberg reported.