EMC confirms Isilon buyout

Rumours proved correct as storage giant enters definitive agreement to acquire rival

Joe Tucci: We will help customers make most of cloud computing

EMC has ended a month of speculation concerning its plans to buy out rival vendor Isilon Systems by confirming its $2.25bn (£1.4bn) offer to acquire the firm has been accepted.

The storage behemoth released a statement yesterday, announcing that the deal has been approved by the directors at both firms and should be completed before the end of the year.

The announcement follows a report in the New York Post last month, stating that the two firms were holding takeover talks.

EMC said Isilon's expertise in scale-out NAS technology would strengthen its strategy of offering low-cost solutions to the data-hungry life sciences, entertainment and oil markets.

Joe Tucci, chief executive of EMC, said that with the arrival of cloud computing, customers were looking for new ways to store data.

He said: "EMC, in combination with Isilon, will help customers get the absolute most out of what cloud computing has to offer."

Sujal Patel, chief executive of Isilon, said: "I am most excited about Isilon's ability to leverage EMC's unparalleled market reach and portfolio to build on our significant success in this fast-growing space."