EMC buys Isilon

The spending spree in the storage industry has continued, with EMC confirming it has entered into an agreement to buy Isilon.

The storage giant is set to pay $33.85 (21.07) per share for Isilon, a scale out network attached storage (NAS) company, amounting to an impressive $2.25 billion in cash.

EMC hopes by bringing Isilon on board, the company will have more ability to deal with "Big Data" storage for new applications that produce massive amounts of data online media streaming, life science applications and so on.

Joe Tucci, chairman and chief executive (CEO) of EMC, said: "The unmistakable waves of cloud computing and Big Data' are upon us. Customers are looking for new ways to store, protect, secure and add intelligence to the vast amounts of information they will accumulate over the next decade."

"EMC, in combination with Isilon, sits at the intersection of these trends with leading products, solutions and services to help customers get the absolute most out of what cloud computing has to offer."

Both boards have approved the deal but, as ever, it will have to pass through all of the regulatory hoops before completion, which is expected by the end of this year.

Sujal Patel, CEO of Isilon, added: "Our excitement about the opportunity to become part EMC's world-class team cannot be overstated."

"EMC's track record of successfully acquiring, integrating and growing leading companies and the complementary nature of our technologies are undeniable."

Andrew Reichman, senior analyst at Forrester Research, told IT PRO last month that Isilon was one of three smaller firms to look out for.