Hewlett-Packard made a bid Monday for data storage provider 3Par, just a week after rival Dell agreed to acquire the company.Hewlett-Packard made a bid Monday for data storage provider 3Par, just a week after rival Dell agreed to acquire the company. (Paul Sakuma/The Associated Press)

Hewlett-Packard Co. is bidding $1.5 billion US for data storage provider 3Par Inc., just a week after rival Dell Inc. agreed to acquire the company for $1.13 billion.

HP and Dell have been looking to expand beyond personal computers over the past few years in a search for bigger profits.

In 3Par, they are bidding for a company that provides software for organizing data on corporate servers. The company, which is based in Fremont, Calif., offers its products on a subscription basis over the web, an approach known as "cloud computing."

HP, based in Palo Alto, Calif., says it will pay $24 per share for the company, a 33 per cent premium over Dell's bid of of $18 per share.

Shares of 3Par rose $7.25, or 40.2 per cent, to $25.29 by mid-morning.