HP today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to purchase Opsware Inc., a data center automation software company.  HP will purchase the software company for an enterprise value of $1.6 billion in cash, or $14.25 per share.  The company is slowly taking the steps to become the leader in the IT market.

HP will combine its Business Technology Optimization (BTO) software with Opsware’s solutions once the deal closes, offering a fully integrated solution for IT automation.  This transaction is one of a list of companies HP has acquired, including Mercury Interactive for $4.8 billion in November of 2006 and Peregrine Systems for $538 million in December of 2005.
 
"The acquisition of Opsware is intended to enable HP Software to help our customers resolve one of their critical pain points: controlling the increasing complexity and cost of managing the data center," said Thomas E. Hogan, senior vice president, Software, HP. "We expect Opsware's outstanding team will help us drive leadership across our BTO offerings."

This buyout will allow HP to automate its entire data center.  It will provision servers, networks and storage devices, and manage changes and compliance requirements.  It will also offer integrated process automation, which will remove latency found in IT environments.

The close of the transaction means Opsware will become a part of the HP Software business.  HP expects to appoint Ben Horowitz to the BTO organization.  The transaction will be for all outstanding Opsware shares, followed by a merger between the software company and a HP subsidiary.  HP expects to complete the buyout before the end of the fourth fiscal quarter of 2007.

HP also acquired Neoware Inc. this week for a sum of $214 million cash buyout.  The purchase of Neoware comes from HP's need for thin client computing by boosting its Linux software and broadening its hardware portfolio.