Dell Inc. plans to purchase data-storage company 3PAR Inc. for about $1.15 billion in cash, as the personal-computer maker, playing catch-up with bigger rivals, seeks to boost its offerings for corporate-technology departments.

Dell said Monday it will pay $18 a share for 3PAR, an 87% premium to 3PAR’s Friday closing price of $9.65. The boards of both companies have approved the 3PAR deal, which Dell said will add to a certain measure of its earnings in its 2012 fiscal year. 3PAR, which went public in 2007, has about 650 employees and earned $194 million in revenue for its 2010 fiscal year ended in March. The company, based in Fremont, Calif., had net losses for both its 2010 and 2009 fiscal years.

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