In a move to bolster its play in the high growth flash storage market industry giant Hewlett Packard Enterprise is to acquire Nimble Storage, the provider of predictive all-flash and hybrid-flash storage solutions.
HPE will pay $12.50 per share in cash, representing a net cash purchase price at closing of $1bn. In addition to the purchase price, HPE will assume or pay out Nimble's unvested equity awards, with a value of approximately $200m at closing.
The overall flash market was estimated to be approximately $15bn in 2016 and is expected to be nearly $20bn by 2020, with the all-flash segment growing at a nearly 17% compound annual growth rate.
Nimble's predictive flash offerings for the entry to midrange segments are complementary to HPE's scalable midrange to high-end 3PAR solutions and MSA products. This deal will enable HPE to deliver a full range of flash storage solutions for customers across every segment.
HPE ALSO plans to incorporate Nimble's InfoSight Predictive Analytics platform across its storage portfolio.
"Nimble Storage's portfolio complements and strengthens our current 3PAR products in the high-growth flash storage market and will help us deliver on our vision of making Hybrid IT simple for our customers," said Meg Whitman, President and CEO, Hewlett Packard Enterprise.
"And, this acquisition is exactly aligned with the strategy and capital allocation approach we've laid out. We remain focused on high-growth and higher-margin segments of the market."
Nimble was founded in 2007 and has approximately 1,300 employees worldwide.
The company delivered revenue of $402M in its most recent fiscal year, up 25% year over year.
Suresh Vasudevan, CEO at Nimble Storage, added: "We're confident that by combining Nimble Storage's technology with HPE's global distribution strength, strong brand, and enterprise relationships, we're creating expansion opportunities for the combined company."
The deal is expected to be accretive to HPE earnings in the first full fiscal year following the close.