Hewlett-Packard squared up to long-time computer rival Dell with a $1.6bn counterbid for data storage company 3Par yesterday, adding to a surge in technology mergers by industry leaders pushing to expand their business range.

惠普(HP)昨日与电脑业宿敌戴尔(Dell)展开了较量，开价16亿美元争购数据存储公司3Par。行业领军企业为拓展自身业务范围正展开大量技术兼并，惠普也加入到这一行列中。

Global dealmaking in the sector has risen by 60 per cent this year, according to Dealogic data, even as market volatility and ailing confidence in the economy has helped stifle an M&A recovery in some sectors.

Dealogic的数据显示，正当市场波动和人们对经济信心不足帮助扼杀了某些行业的并购复苏时，电脑业全球并购交易今年却增加了60%。

That resurgence has been led by the US, where deal volumes have almost doubled relative to 2009 because of big transactions, including Intel’s move last week to buy McAfee for $8bn.

这一回升是由美国引领的。在美国，由于出现了多宗大型交易，其中包括英特尔(Intel)上周斥资80亿美元收购McAfee的交易，并购交易额较去年几乎翻了一番。

HP executives told the Financial Times that they had been pursuing 3Par – which makes high-end storage systems and data management products – before Dell agreed to buy it a week ago for $1.15bn.

惠普高管告诉英国《金融时报》，在戴尔答应收购3Par之前，惠普就一直力争收购该公司。3Par是一家生产高端存储系统和数据管理产品的公司。一周前，戴尔答应以11.5亿美元收购该公司。

If 3Par accepts the HP unsolicited offer, the deal could close by the end of the year.

如果3Par接受惠普的主动报价，这宗交易便可在今年年底前完成。

Under Mark Hurd, the recently ousted chief executive, HP in particular has moved into new areas as diverse as smartphones, networking and storage, where demand has boomed as businesses race to intensify analysis on exploding customer and transaction data.

在近期被赶下台的首席执行官马克•赫德(Mark Hurd)任内，惠普已把业务拓展到多种不同的新领域——从智能手机、网络到存储。随着企业竞相加强分析呈爆炸式增长的消费者和交易数据，存储领域的需求已出现激增。

HP’s acquisition spree in recent years includes deals for EDS, 3Com and Palm, as it extends the company’s reach beyond its traditional strengths in consumer PCs and printers.

惠普在近几年掀起了一波并购狂潮，把包括EDS、3Com和Palm在内的公司并入旗下，将触手延伸到了其传统优势领域——消费者个人电脑和打印机——之外。

Last week’s offer by Dell was seen as threat to rivals such as HP, IBM and EMC as the computer maker pushed its way into the IT services business and looked to gain a stronger foothold in the growing world of “cloud computing”.

人们认为，戴尔上周发出的收购要约对惠普、IBM和EMC等竞争对手构成了威胁。戴尔正全力进军IT服务业务，并试图在日益壮大的“云计算”领域获得更稳固的立足点。

Under the terms of the original transaction, Dell will have certain rights to match HP’s proposal, should it be deemed superior by the board of 3Par. The deal between 3Par and Dell included a termination fee of $53.5m. Dell and 3Par had no immediate response.

根据最初交易的相关条款，戴尔有权开出与惠普相同的收购提议，前提是3Par董事会认为应优先考虑戴尔。3Par与戴尔之间的交易包括一项5350万美元的终止费。戴尔和3Par对记者的询问均未做出即刻回应。