HPE Acquires All-Flash and Hybrid-Flash Storage Solutions Provider, Nimble Storage

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE: HPE) has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Nimble Storage, the San Jose, California-based 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 $1.0 billion. In addition to the purchase price, HPE will assume or pay out Nimble’s unvested equity awards, with a value of approximately $200 million at closing.

Flash storage is a fast-growing market and an increasingly important element of today’s hybrid IT environment. The overall flash market was estimated to be approximately $15 billion in 2016 and is expected to be nearly $20 billion by 2020, with the all-flash segment growing at a nearly 17 percent 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 “affordable” MSA products. This deal would enable HPE to deliver a full range of superior flash storage solutions for customers across every segment.

nimble storageIn addition, HPE plans to incorporate Nimble’s InfoSight Predictive Analytics platform across its storage portfolio, which would enable a stronger, simplified support experience for HPE customers. For example, InfoSight automatically would detect 90 percent of all issues within a customer’s infrastructure, and resolve over 85 percent of them.

“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 of 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.”

Key customer benefits of the combined HPE and Nimble portfolio would include:

  • The ability to seamlessly move data and replicate across hybrid flash and all-flash storage to meet unpredictable IT demands
  • Integrated data protection with application aware snapshots, encryption, replication and integration with leading independent software vendors
  • Effortless management of storage volumes along with data compaction to reduce capacity costs
  • Predictive support automation to anticipate and prevent most problems and solve remaining issues in a matter of minutes
  • Quality of service controls and full stack analytics to ensure predictable performance in hybrid IT deployments
  • Increased dedicated sales specialist support
  • A future-proofed technology platform with a rich roadmap to support next-generation storage

Following the successful completion of the tender offer, the agreement provides that Nimble will merge with a subsidiary of HPE and become a wholly owned subsidiary of HPE.

The tender offer and merger and closing of the transaction are expected to be completed in April, subject to the satisfaction or waiver of the offer conditions set forth in the agreement. Following the completion of the transaction, Nimble Storage shares will be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange.