Update:  On Monday morning, Dell finalized its deal to buy Compellent for $960 million or $27.75 per share in cash. As of the end of its third quarter, closing Oct. 31, Dell had just under $13.5 billion in cash on hand.)

Another shoe dropping. Dell and Compellent acknowledged Friday that they’re in M&A talks.

The companies said they’re exclusively talking about a merger valuing Compellent at $27.25 per share in cash.

Now all we have to wait for is Hewlett-Packard to weigh in. I kid! I kid!

Speculation has been rife that Compellent was on the short-list of storage companies remaining to be bought. HP famously outbid Dell for 3Par a few months ago. EMC snatched up Isilon last month. Before snarfing up 3Par, HP bought LeftHand Networks in a move viewed as a knee-jerk reaction to Dell’s earlier buy of EqualLogic.

Had enough?
Let us know what you think about the story; email Barbara Darrow, Senior News Director at bdarrow@techtarget.com, or follow us on twitter.

Check out more IT channel news on SearchITChannel.com.

Isilon specializes in what it calls scale-out network attached storage (NAS.)

Ever since Hewlett-Packard outdueled Dell to buy 3Par earlier this fall,  speculation has swirled that othersmaller storage vendors, including Seattle-based Isilon, were in play.

For VARs that often seek out smaller, nimbler vendors vs. technology giants that can be direct-sales focused, this is not necessarily good news.

Let us know what you think about the story; email Barbara Darrow, Senior News Director at bdarrow@techtarget.com, or follow us on twitter.

Check out more IT channel news on SearchITChannel.com.

ArcSight, which makes security software that monitors computer networks for unusual activity, had been shopping itself around, looking for $42 per share. Its stock was trading for just over $35 on Friday.

If HP closes a deal, it will come on the heels of HP’s hard fought–and pricey–victory wresting 3Par away from archrival Dell.

The HP vs. Dell battle–and the fact that companies can’t earn much on their cash holdings–causes many to expect the M&A activitiy to continue. Since 3Par ended up costing HP $2.1 billion, way more than the company’s valuation before the bidding war, there’s been heightened speculation that other innovative storage and networking companies will be snapped up. Compellent, Isilon, Brocade Communications and other names are mentioned as buyout candidates.

Many thought HP would cool its jets after being slammed for paying too much for 3Par but then Oracle hired former HP CEO Mark Hurd as co-president.  HP’s board is clearly concerned that Hurd will be put in charge of Oracle’s Sun hardware business. News of HP’s interest in ArcSight soon followed that of HP suing Hurd and Oracle.

Check out more IT channel news on SearchITChannel.com and follow us on Twitter!