NetApp buying SolidFire for US$870m to boost presence in flash market

Seattle

NETAPP Inc agreed to buy SolidFire Inc for US$870 million in cash to boost its presence in the growing market for systems that can retrieve and store vast amounts of data at rapid speeds.

NetApp was the No 4 player in the market for flash-storage devices, which use the same fast computer memory that's found in smartphones and tablets, according to Gartner Inc. SolidFire, based in Boulder, Colorado, had sales of about US$50 million in 2014, while NetApp had more than double that amount in the flash category, Gartner said. The two companies announced the deal in a statement on Monday.