Owners of a third of 3PAR back HP bid-UPDATE 1

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Friday September 03, 2010 11:26:13 AM GMT

* A third of 3PAR shares behind HP bid

* 3PAR shares fall slightly in early trade

NEW YORK, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Data storage provider 3PAR Inc said on Friday that shareholders owning about a third of its shares have agreed to accept Hewlett-Packard Co's proposal to buy the company for $2.4 billion.

HP won a bidding war for 3PAR as Dell Inc bowed out on Thursday when HP raised its cash offer by $3 to $33 per share to trump Dell's $32-a-share offer.

3PAR had traded mostly around $10 this year, until Dell announced a $18 per share bid in mid-August.

Its shares were down 3 cents at $32.85 in premarket trade after closing at $33.88 on New York Stock Exchange Thursday.

The storage company competes with bigger rival EMC Corp in a key part of "cloud computing" -- an increasingly popular technology that lets computer users access data and software over the Internet, allowing companies to cut costs. (Reporting by Sinead Carew; editing by Gerald E. McCormick)

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