HP is now offering  $27 per share, up from its previous bid of $24 a share, and outbidding once again Dell’s latest offer of $24.30 made on Thursday morning. The deal puts 3PAR’s value at $1.8 billion, an increase from the $1.6 billion that Dell offered earlier. HP’s most recent bid is up 180%  over 3PAR’s closing price of $9.65 on August 15th,  the day before Dell first made an offer.

Soon after HP announced its recent bid, 3Par increased to 6.4 percent to $27.70 in extended trading.  Earlier,  shares had fallen 73 cents to $26.03.

Dave Donatelli, general manager of HP’s servers and storage unit, said “Not only is our offer superior to Dell’s proposal, HP remains uniquely positioned to execute on this combination given the number of synergies between the two companies,”

3PAR told Dell on Wednesday, that the company had three days to increase its offer, or it would go with HP’s deal. 3Par had said it would pay Dell a $72 million termination fee if it accepts another acquisition proposal.