Massive. That pretty much sums up WD’s acquisition of Hitachi GST, one of their main competitors. WD, responsible for the world’s first 1TB 2.5-inch drive will pony up $3.5 billion in cash and $750 million in common stock, which at the time of acquisition was pegged at $30.01 per share. In return, Hitachi will own approximately ten percent of Western Digital shares outstanding after issuance of the shares and two representatives of Hitachi will be added to the WD board of directors at closing. This isn’t an unprecedented move as WD’s main competitor Seagate took Maxtor for $2 billion back in 2005. It’s still pretty unclear what this means for consumers, though you can be sure that the fight for your storage just got a bit more intense.
Source: Bloomberg