Dell agrees to buy software firm Quest for $2.4bn

Dell has agreed to buy Quest Software, which makes programs to manage corporate computer systems, for $28 a share, ending a bidding contest with Insight Venture Partners.

Quest employs 220 people at its Citygate Business Park Mahon Point offices in Cork and 3,900 worldwide.

The acquisition is worth $2.4bn (€1.9bn), net of cash and debt, the Texas-based Dell said in a joint statement with Quest. The transaction is expected to close in Dell’s fiscal third quarter.

The purchase would cap a month-long bidding war for Quest and fits with Dell’s aim to add technology that helps customers outfit data centres for handling storage and cloud computing.

Quest’s software lets companies administer databases and servers, as well as back up information and recover lost data. It is not known what impact the acquisition will have on Quest’s staff.

“Quest will enable Dell to deliver more competitive server, storage, networking and end user computing solutions and services to customers,” said John Swainson, president of Dell’s software group, in the statement.

Several companies made offers for Quest since it said on Mar 9 that it had agreed to be bought by Insight Venture Partners, a private equity firm, for about $2bn, or $23 a share.

Aliso Viejo, California-based Quest said last week that it received an offer for $27.50 a share, or about $2.32bn, from a company that it did not identify. Dell was that company, according to sources.

Dell told analysts on June 13 that it planned to use deals to boost revenue from data-centre hardware, software, and services by 45% to $27.5bn by fiscal 2016, reducing its reliance on the computer business.