Hard drive vendor Seagate ended 2006 on a high with the acquisition of privately-held online backup specialist EVault.

Seagate will use the acquisition to strengthen its Seagate Services group which targets SMEs.

The deal is valued at about $185m and is subject to various standard closing conditions including regulatory approvals. However, it is expected to close in March in the third quarter of Seagate’s fiscal year 2007.

Bill Watkins, chief executive of Seagate, said: “[The acquisition] highlights a strategic next step into services which is a natural extension of Seagate’s core business.

“Over the past three years, Seagate has been executing a strategy designed to broaden its core hard drive business into the broader storage solutions category. Our objective is to become a leading provider of services to manage and protect digital content throughout its lifecycle.”

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