Report: Dell In ‘$2.15bn Bid’ For Quest Software

Dell has reportedly tabled a $2.15 billion (£1.38bn) offer for Quest Software, trumping a bid from Insight Venture Partners.

Yesterday, Quest put out a notice saying it had received a “superior proposal” from a “strategic bidder” at $25.50 per share in cash. “The definitive terms and conditions of a merger agreement detailing the proposal have been fully negotiated, and the agreement is subject only to execution by the company,” the notice read.

Having been linked with a purchase of Quest in May, Dell is that strategic buyer, sources have told Reuters, and the Texan firm is being advised by the Bank of America Merrill Lynch on the deal.

Dell on acquisition spree

Quest, a data protection and database management provider, told TechWeekEurope it was not commenting on the matter. At the time of publication, Dell had not offered comment either.

The company had agreed to be bought out by Insight in March, but has been looking for other bidders.

Insight has just three days to offer a better bid. If Quest accepts the new offer, it would have to pay Insight a break-up fee of either $4.2 million or $6.3 million, depending on the timing of the acquisition.

Dell has been on an acquisition spree for some time, as it looks to be the provider that can cover the whole data centre stack.

In March, it announced plans to buy unified threat management (UTM) and next-generation firewall vendor SonicWALL. A month later, it emerged Dell wanted to buy thin client and VDI vendor Wyse Technology.

A purchase of Quest would boost its relatively new software division – something Dell is banking on to bring in plenty of revenue in the coming years. Earlier this year, Dell told TechWeekEurope that services and software now accounted for around 50 percent of its profits.

At the same time, Dell is planning on cutting some of its workforce in the UK.

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