Hewlett Packard (HP) has raised its bid in the battle with rival Dell to take control of data storage firm 3Par, with an offer of $1.8bn (£1.2bn).

惠普在与其竞争对手戴尔就数据存储公司3Par的争夺战中提高出价，报价18亿美元。

3Par has been the subject of a bidding war between Dell and Hewlett Packard

The move comes just hours after Dell agreed a deal to take over 3Par, having matched HP's earlier bid of $1.6bn, tabled on Monday.

HP said its offer was "superior" and it was in a better position than its rival to execute the deal.

Observers are now waiting to see if Dell can again match HP's offer.

HP said it expected the deal for 3Par to be completed by the end of the year.

"Not only is our offer superior to Dell's proposal, HP remains¹ uniquely positioned to execute on the combination given the number of synergies（协同增效效应，合并效果） between the two companies," said the computer maker's Dave Donatelli.

'Cloud computing²'

Earlier, Dell said its deal with 3Par would "dramatically accelerate" the data storage firm's revenue（税收，收益） growth.

"Dell has a demonstrated commitment and track record in integrating and growing acquired companies and nurturing³ their entrepreneurial（企业家的，中间商的） and innovative⁴ cultures," the company said in a statement.

With revenues between April and June almost double those of Dell, HP has greater resources to call upon, analysts⁵ say.

"Even though Dell has the balance sheet（资产负债表） to step up the offer, they're probably reaching the upper limits of what they can offer," said Ashok Kumar at Rodman & Renshaw.

"At the end of the day, Hewlett-Packard is in a better position to close the deal."

They also questioned whether 3Par was worth much more than the latest offer.

"It is pretty hard to imagine them going much higher, but both companies have a lot of cash so you never know," said Kevin Hunt at Hapoalim Securities.

"I think much higher would be pretty hard to justify⁶ financially for share holders⁷ but companies have made bad decisions in the past, so I wouldn't rule it out."

The bidding war for 3Par reflects the growing interest in the industry in "cloud computing" - technology that allows users to access files or services remotely over the internet, rather than just from their own local servers.

3Par says its storage systems can cut storage administration costs by up to 90% and infrastructure⁸（基础设施，公共建设） costs by up to 75%.

3Par had already signed a takeover（接管，验收） agreement with Dell last week, in a deal worth around $1.15bn.

But that included a provision for Dell to match competing bids.