DOW JONES NEWSWIRES Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) said late Thursday that it agreed to buy 3Par Inc. (PAR) through a cash tender offer of $33 a share, and 3Par confirmed it paid Dell Inc. (DELL) a $72 million termination fee to end their merger agreement. Dell bowed out of the bidding earlier in the day after H-P offered $33 a share for the data-storage company. The ceasefire between the tech titans ended quite a run for 3Par, whose shares more than tripled in value in the past few weeks. They traded for less than $10 before Dell's initial offer of $18 on Aug. 16. H-P's cash tender offer is scheduled to expire at midnight EDT Sept. 24. The merger is expected to close by the end of the year. 3Par's shares were at $32.86, down 2 cents, in after-hours trading. H-P's closed at $39.68 and Dell's at $12.36. Both were inactive after hours. -By Kathy Shwiff, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2357; kathy.shwiff@dowjones.com
