The Industry Standard - NetApp prevails in bidding war with EMC over Data Domain? - Comments

A relatively sudden

Ian Lamont — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 17:24:08 -0400

A relatively sudden surprise:

"Data Domain said Wednesday it has signed a definitive merger agreement with EMC and terminated its previously announced merger deal with NetApp. Data Domain said it paid NetApp a $57 million termination fee under terms of that agreement."

I was just reading in the WSJ this morning about EMC getting regulatory clearance. I guess all of the earlier talk about "West Coast culture" did not play out in NetApp's favor.

Judged accordingly.

Ian Lamont
Managing Editor
The Industry Standard
twitter.com/the_standard

EMC ups the

Ian Lamont — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 09:48:51 -0400

EMC ups the ante:

http://bit.ly/NzHKA

Ian Lamont
Managing Editor
The Industry Standard
twitter.com/the_standard

One other important news

Ian Lamont — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 09:53:11 -0400

One other important news item: EMC is prepared to increase its bid, according to sources cited in a Reuters report:

http://www.reuters.com/article/americasDealsNews/idUSTRE55B4LD20090612

Ian Lamont
Managing Editor
The Industry Standard
twitter.com/the_standard

A couple of updates on this

Ian Lamont — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 09:43:09 -0400

A couple of updates on this one:

Data Domain board rejects EMC offer, advises shareholders to do the same:

http://www.thestandard.com/news/2009/06/15/data-domain-board-rejects-emc...

How an East Coast/Silicon Valley culture clash is impacting perceptions of the rival offers:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124501785457413497.html

Antitrust review of the bids begins:

http://www.reuters.com/article/innovationNews/idUSTRE55E6X120090615

Ian Lamont
Managing Editor
The Industry Standard
twitter.com/the_standard

NetApp prevails in bidding war with EMC over Data Domain?

Ian Lamont — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 10:28:54 -0400

Following last month's announcement that NetApp would buy backup storage vendor Data Domain (NASDAQ:DDUP) for $1.5 billion in cash and stock, a bidding war has broken out with NetApp rival EMC Corporation (NYSE: EMC).

EMC's surprise, all-cash offer of $1.8 billion forced NetApp to increase its bid to $1.9 billion. While Data Domain's board accepted the revised NetApp offer, EMC is not giving up. EMC Chairman and CEO Joe Tucci sent a "love letter" addressed directly to Data Domain's employees, which claims that it has the largest storage-focused R&D budget "in all of IT" and pledges that EMC would respect Data Domain's corporate culture if it acquired the company. Some Data Domain shareholders are also objecting to the NetApp deal, alleging "breaches of fiduciary duty and other violations of state law" on the part of Data Domain's board.

But there are also questions about EMC's motives in making a hostile bid. NetApp's Chief Marketing Officer believes that Data Domain's product lines and markets are more complimentary to NetApp than EMC, and suggested that EMC was making an offer "just to impede our progress." At least one analystconcurs, noting that EMC already has de-duplication technology that a Data Domain acquisition would bring.

According to a June 4 article, the NetApp and Data Domain deal will take 60 to 110 days to close, "subject to customary closing conditions including regulatory approval."

Prediction: NetApp's proposed acquisition of Data Domain closes by September 15, 2009. The criteria for judgment includes a confirmation from one or both of the companies in the form of a press release or a press report that the deal has closed by this date. An SEC filing that describes an expected closing date will not suffice for judgment.