"Hewlett-Packard on Thursday officially won storage vendor 3Par after Dell declined to match a $33 a share, or $2.4 billion, bid. Dell’s statement on the matter ended a wild bidding war that started at $18 a share for 3Par. Dell said in a statement that it will get a $72 million breakup fee. The company added that its final offer was for $32 a share.

The 3Par bidding war reflected the animosity between two fierce rivals, Dell and HP, and the fact that there aren’t many enterprise storage players to buy.

Earlier on Thursday, 3Par said Hewlett-Packard has raised its offer to $33 a share for the storage company, or $2.4 billion, after Dell countered with a $32 a share offer. 3Par deemed HP’s bid as superior. HP had bid $30 for 3Par and Dell countered with $32 a share. Dell also revised a termination fee to $92 million."

Source: ZDNet