Hewlett-Packard has offered to buy 3PAR, a vendor of virtualized storage systems, for US$1.6 billion in cash, topping a bid of $1.15 billion made by Dell last Monday.
HP made its offer in a letter to 3PAR President and CEO David Scott on Monday morning.
The offer will force 3PAR's board to reconsider its merger agreement with Dell as the HP offer is a "superior proposal," HP's Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy and Technology Officer, Shane Robison, wrote in the letter.
Robison said that HP would be a better fit for 3PAR than would Dell, as both are Silicon Valley companies.
Peter Sayer covers open source software, European intellectual property legislation and general technology breaking news for IDG News Service. Send comments and news tips to Peter at peter_sayer@idg.com.