EMC Corp., the largest U.S. manufacturer of data-storage equipment for computers, said Monday it has agreed to acquire Data General Corp. for about $1.1 billion in stock.
EMC said it will pay 0.3262 shares for each share of Data General, which was a 48 percent premium to Data General’s closing price Friday of $13.19. EMC shares fell Monday, leaving the value of the deal at $18.59 per Data General share.
Data General, based in Westborough, Mass., makes servers and mass-storage systems for corporate computer networks.
EMC, based in Hopkinton, said the acquisition of Data General will boost its sales of midrange computer storage systems, a $10 billion market. Data General had sales of $1.5 billion in its 1998 fiscal year, ended Sept. 26. EMC said it expects the deal to add to profits in 2000 and to boost profits “significantly” in 2001.
The deal comes amid intensifying competition in the data storage market. Last week, IBM said it had agreed to buy Mylex Corp., which makes controllers and adapters used in data-storage systems, for $240 million.
EMC shares fell $3, or 5 percent, to $57, Monday, while Data General stock surged $4.25, or 32.2 percent, to $17.44.
