Western Digital to buy Virident Systems for $685 million

Western Digital Corp, a US-based maker of hard drives yesterday agreed to buy Virident Systems Inc, a maker of flash memory for servers, for $685 million in cash.

California-based Virident is a technology leader in one of the fastest growing segments in enterprise and cloud computing. Its solutions enable enterprises to tackle performance-intensive datacentre applications with PCIe-based enterprise flash storage solutions for virtualisation, database, cloud computing, and webscale applications.

Virident's FlashMAX II can be installed in any server and provides the highest capacity in a single low-profile card, enabling organisations to maximise the use of valuable datacentre space and reduce datacentre sprawl.

Its FlashMAX Connect is the industry's first software to deliver a shared server-side flash storage tier with enterprise-class reliability.

Virident is backed by investors that include Intel, Cisco Systems, Seagate, Hercules Technology Growth Capital and venture investors Artiman Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Globespan Capital Partners, and Mitsui Global Investments.

Western Digital is a provider of products and services that empower people to create, manage, experience and preserve digital content. Its subsidiaries design and manufacture storage devices, networking equipment and home entertainment products under the WD, HGST and G-Technology brands.

''We have established a competitive position in the enterprise SSD space and with our recently announced acquisitions we are increasing our commitment to become an even more significant player in this high growth segment,'' said Steve Milligan, president and CEO of Western Digital.

''Virident has a proven leadership team and a culture of innovation. Its combination of great people, leading products and advanced technology will enhance our increasingly strategic position in enterprise storage,'' he added.