Western Digital Adds Enterprise SSD With $340 Million sTec Acquisition

Western Digital (WDC) and sTec (STEC) announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement under which sTec, an early innovator in enterprise solid-state drives (SSDs), will be acquired by HGST, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Western Digital for $340 million. HGST (Hitachi Global Storage Technologies) is a $4.3 billion acquisition that Western Digital made in 2011.

Western Digital is one of the two leading players in the market for hard disk drives (HDD). The deal positions Western Digital for a shift in which more end users begin adopting solid-state drives, which offer faster performance but come with a higher price tag than HDDs.

"Solid state storage in the enterprise will play an increasingly strategic role in the future of Western Digital," said Steve Milligan, president and chief executive officer, Western Digital Corporation. "This acquisition is one more building block in our strategy to capitalize on the dramatic changes within the storage industry by investing in SSDs and other high-growth storage products."

Extending HGST’s existing solid-state storage capabilities, this acquisition will continue to be committed to a joint development program with Intel and will continue to deliver current and future SAS-based SSD products with Intel. sTec has strong engineering talent and intellectual property that will complement HGST technical expertise and capabilities.

“At this key point in the evolution of the storage industry, sTec is excited to consummate this transaction. It will be an important next step in proliferating many of the innovative products and technologies that sTec has been known for throughout its 23-year history and provides immediate value for our shareholders and a strong future for our employees and customers,” said Mark Moshayedi, president and chief executive officer, sTec. “This merger will enable our world-class engineering team and IP to continue to make a significant contribution to the high-performance enterprise SSD space that has long been sTec’s focus.”

The sTec acquisition follows a recent strategic investment that Western Digital made in Skyera.