EMC takes control of Data Domain

BOSTON (Reuters) - EMC Corp, the biggest maker of corporate data storage gear, said it has acquired a majority stake in Data Domain Inc and expects to complete the acquisition of the company by month's end.

It said Data Domain will become the foundation of a new product division within EMC's storage business, focused on the development and delivery of next-generation disk-based backup, recovery and archive solutions.

Data Domain Chief Executive Frank Slootman will run the new division, which EMC estimates will generate $1 billion in revenue next year.

EMC beat out NetApp Inc in a bidding war over Data Domain.

The $2.4 billion acquisition will give EMC control of what had been the largest independent provider of technology that reduces duplicate information on storage equipment, one of the fastest growing segments of the overall sluggish storage industry.

EMC said 78.2 percent of the outstanding Data Domain shares were tendered to it. It previously held a 3.9 percent stake, so it now controls 82.1 percent.

EMC has extended to July 22 its offer to purchase the rest of the shares at $33.50 each.

(Reporting by Jim Finkle, editing by Gerald E. McCormick and John Wallace)