HP Enterprise buys US software startup for US$650 mln

SAN FRANCISCO: Hewlett Packard Enterprise on Tuesday announced a deal to buy business data management firm SimpliVity for US$ 650 million in cash.

Founded in 2009, the Massachusettsbased Simplivity sells ‘ hyperconverged’ systems that combine computing, storage and networking.

HPE said the market for such systems was estimated at US$ 2.4 billion last year and was expected to grow to nearly US$ 6 billion by the year 2020.

“This transaction expands HPE’s software- defined capability and fits squarely within our strategy to make Hybrid IT simple for customers,” HPE chief executive Meg Whitman said in a statement.

HPE, based in Palo Alto, California, was the result of the November 2015 breakup of computing giant Hewlett- Packard.

The group was split between its enterprise unit, HPE, and the personal computer and printer business HP Inc. that became a household name but faced increasingly fierce competition.

Whitman has dismantled some of the company as the world increasingly turns to mobile devices and cloud- based computing.

Nearly two years ago SimpliVity announced it had raised US$ 175 million at a valuation of more than a billion dollars, placing it among highly- valued tech startups referred to as unicorns.

The price paid by HPE would indicate that the company had left the unicorn herd. — AFP