Storage vendor Brocade's proposed acquisition of Foundry Networks continues to drag on as the companies have "agreed in principle" on a $400m (£241m) reduction in price.

Foundry shareholders were scheduled to vote on the $3bn deal on 24 October but that afternoon the company issued a statement which said: "Given recent developments related to the transaction, the special meeting of stockholders scheduled to be held today has been adjourned until 29 October."

The enigmatic announcement sent Foundry's stock price into freefall as it closed more 25 per cent down on Friday. Some onlookers suggested Foundry shareholders were having doubts about storage vendor Brocade's ability to finance the deal.

The companies issued another statement yesterday indicating they had "agreed in principle" to reduce the price of the buy-out to $2.6bn. The meeting of Foundry shareholders has also been further adjourned and will now take place on Friday, 7 November.

The two companies entered into a definitive agreement on the original deal in July and both boards of directors gave it the green light. Brocade claimed it planned to finance the acquisition through cash and committed debt financing from the Bank of America and Morgan Stanley Senior Funding.