In a last minute spot of Christmas shopping, Seagate has bagged online backup provider EVault for $185m in a bid to expand its services effort.

The California-based outfit was founded in 1997 and employs 250 staff servicing 8,500 customers.

Seagate CEO Bill Watkins said: "Over the past three years, Seagate has been executing a strategy designed to broaden its customer base and increase growth opportunities by expanding beyond its core hard disc drive business into the broader storage solutions category."

Online backup is yet to really take off. Seagate will be targeting a market of 74 million small businesses worldwide which it reckons are ripe for a multibillion dollar backup juicing over the coming years.

The deal follows Seagate's 2005 acquisitions of network security services firm Mirra Technologies and data recovery call-out company Action Front.

If you've got nothing better to do four days before Christmas, Seagate's press release is here. ®