Dell ups 3Par stakes by matching Hewlett-Packard offer

The 3Par bidding war continued today as the data storage company accepted a $1.8 billion bid from Dell, matching the offer from Hewlett-Packard.

Computer maker Dell's $27-per-share offer is worth three times the price of 3Par before the tussle began this month.

Californian firm 3Par said its board continues to recommend the Dell offer.

In US pre-market trading, 3Par shares surged nearly 10% to $28.55 from yesterday's close of $26.03.

HP and Dell, two of the world's largest personal computer makers, are looking at 3Par as a way to build up their "cloud computing" businesses, which involve delivering software, data storage and other services to customers over the internet.

Cloud computing holds the promise of richer profits for technology providers because many companies do not buy their own computer servers for certain tasks. Instead, they are paying to have software they would have stored on those machines delivered over the internet.