Data Domain jilts NetApp for EMC

Stephen Withers
Thursday, 09 July 2009 07:55

IT Industry - Listed Tech

NetApp has given up on its plan to acquire Data Domain, but picked up a $US57 million break fee for its trouble. The decision frees Data Domain to go with a higher offer from EMC.

Data Domain's speciality is deduplication - an increasingly important aspect of storage management. Removing duplicates (eg, identical files stored in many users' directories, or the same attachment in many mailboxes) can significantly reduce storage requirements and backup and recovery times.

Earlier this month, NetApp received regulatory clearance for the acquisition from the US Securities and Exchange Commission as well as the US Federal Trade Commission.

EMC had also submitted a bid for Data Domain, but the latter's board recommended shareholders support the NetApp proposal instead.

The plan was that the matter would go to Data Domain shareholders on August 14, but EMC came back with an cash offer of $US33.50 per share - significantly above NetApp's $US30 in cash and stock - which led to a definitive acquisition agreement.

NetApp has announced it will not revise its bid. Chairman and CEO Dan Warmenhoven said the company "cannot justify engaging in an increasingly expensive and dilutive bidding war that would diminish the deal's strategic and financial benefits."

Announcing the agreement, EMC chairman Joe Tucci said "This is a compelling acquisition from both a strategic and financial standpoint. We look forward to bringing Data Domain together with EMC to form a powerful force in next-generation disk-based backup and archive.

"I have tremendous respect for Data Domain's people, technology and business, and anticipate great things ahead for our respective companies, our customers and partners."