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The tussle for control of 3Par comes as both HP and Dell have been lookin... g to expand beyond personal computers in search of bigger profits. The companies say they both want to provide products for organizing data on corporate servers. Those tools could help either company go deeper into "cloud computing," the growing practice of offering software on a subscription basis over the Internet.

The offer announced Monday raised questions about the direction HP is taking since Mark Hurd was forced to resign as chief executive earlier this month. Hurd was pushed out for filing inaccurate expense reports for dinners and other outings with a former HP marketing contractor.

Asked why HP only made an offer for 3Par after Dell jumped in last week with its $1.13 billion bid, company executives declined to say exactly how long they have been considering the deal or whether Hurd had been in favor of it.

HP executive vice president Dave Donatelli indicated that HP had made a previous offer but would go only as far as saying, "We've been working on this deal for some time." HP's bid of $24 a share represents a 33 percent increase over Dell's offer last Monday of $18 a share, which itself had been an 87 percent premium over 3Par's most recent closing price at the time. Including debt, HP valued its offer at roughly $1.6 billion.

In trading Monday, shares of 3Par jumped $8.05, or 44.6 percent, to close at $26.09. The fact that it closed above HP's offer price suggests that investors expect Dell to make a higher counteroffer. Dell spokesman David Frink declined to comment on the company's next move.

HP shares slipped 81 cents, or 2 percent, to $39.04. Shares of Dell, which is based in Round Rock, Texas, fell 13 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $11.94.

HP, based in Palo Alto, Calif., is the world's biggest computer maker, with Dell trailing at No. 2. But HP has gone further than Dell in stretching beyond the PC market. PC sales made up less than a third of HP's annual revenue of $116 billion during the most recent fiscal year, while they account for more than half of revenue at Dell.

With the acquisition of 3Par, which is based in Fremont, Calif., HP would add to a data storage business that generates about 13 percent of its revenue.

The software 3Par offers is designed to maximize available space on data storage hardware -- a cost-cutting step -- by using a technique called "thin provisioning," by which extra capacity can be added as needed.

-- Associated Press