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NO DEAL: HP/EMC merger talks are off

HP walks away after 'fruitless negotiations' stalled on price

The improbable merger of industry behemoths HP and EMC will not happen, according to loquacious folk familiar with such things.

The pair are no longer locked in discussions and have walked away from any prospective deal “after months of fruitless negotiations”.

Discussions were still taking place until last week, according to wire service Reuters, “but talks bogged down on price and are now dead”, the report says, citing “people briefed on the matter.”

That phrasing suggests HP remained keen on a deal, even after it decided to split. It also hints that EMC chased a number even as it initiated a re-organisation.

As The Reg has observed, the enormous and likely value-destroying overlaps in the two companies' storage portfolios made it hard to see how a merger could have been pulled off elegantly, at any price.

The colossi will sail on alone, then. At least for now. The cloud-driven crunch coming for the storage array business means there's sure to be plenty of boardroom action in this sector in coming months and years. ®

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