USDell wins Quest bidding contest

Dell has agreed to buy Quest Software, a maker of programmes to manage corporate computer systems, for $28 (R227) a share, ending a bidding contest with Insight Venture Partners. The acquisition was worth $2.4 billion, net of cash and debt, the US computer maker said yesterday. The purchase would cap a months-long bidding war for Quest and fits with Dell’s aim to add technology that helps customers outfit data centres for handling storage and cloud computing. Quest’s software lets companies administer databases and servers, as well as back up information and recover lost data. – Bloomberg