Data Domain accepts new NetApp offer

IDG News Service - NetApp Inc. has claimed victory in the bidding war with EMC Corp. over Data Domain, a vendor of de-duplication storage systems, though EMC insists its all-cash offer is superior to NetApp's, which combines cash and stock.

NetApp and Data Domain announced Wednesday that they have entered into a revised acquisition agreement under which NetApp will acquire all of the outstanding shares of Data Domain common stock for $30 per share in cash and stock, in a transaction valued at about $1.9 billion, net of Data Domain's cash.

The board of directors of Data Domain unanimously approved the revised transaction agreement, and the deal is expected to close in 60 to 110 days, subject to customary closing conditions including regulatory approval, the companies said.

NetApp made its revised offer earlier on Wednesday.

EMC believes its $30-per-share offer is superior to NetApp's because it is all in cash, it said Wednesday. The company said it did not believe that Data Domain stockholders will approve the merger transaction with NetApp, but did not disclose whether it would make another offer for Data Domain.

On Monday, EMC made an unsolicited offer to acquire all of the outstanding common stock of Data Domain for $30 per share in cash, putting a value of approximately $1.8 billion on the deal, net of Data Domain's cash.

NetApp first announced a definitive agreement to acquire Data Domain on May 20. The company said at the time that it would acquire all of the outstanding shares of Data Domain common stock for $25 per share in cash and stock. The transaction was valued at approximately $1.5 billion, net of Data Domain's cash.

Data Domain's products bring a complementary offering to NetApp, expanding NetApp's reach in the market for heterogeneous disk-based backup, NetApp said.

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