The proverbial ball in the bidding battle between market leader EMC and NetApp over Data Domain has been swatted back in EMC’s court. NetApp on June 3 filed an offer of $1.9 billion in stock and cash, a hundred million bucks more than EMC’s June 1 offer of $1.8 billion in cash.
NetApp had started the whole thing with a May 20 offer of $1.5 billion.
Reuters reported in a news note that Data Domain will accept the NetApp offer, but this whole thing’s not over till it’s over. In other words, not until the shareholders speak and vote.
Meanwhile, DDUP’s stockholders are probably having a hard time concealing their glee over all of this. The stock was in the tank at $10.24 on March 16; it was selling for $32-plus on June 3.
More to come, certainly.