Computer disk drive supplier Seagate Technology has agreed to buy rival Maxtor Corp. for $1.9 billion in stock, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The paper said the deal is expected to be unveiled later in the day, with Seagate planning to swap 0.37 of a Seagate share for each Maxtor share.
Under the terms of the deal, as reported by the Journal, the transaction is worth about $7.25 a share for Maxtor investors, a 60 percent premium to its closing price on Tuesday.
Both the Seagate and Maxtor boards have approved the deal, the paper reported, which will unit two big hard drive makers.The Journal, citing people familiar wi ... more

Seagate was the first drive manufacturer to put serial ATA, or SATA, hard drives on the streets. In 2003, Seagate delivered its Barracuda ATA V in a SATA version for all those early adopters starving for new technology. That Barracuda was more like an average trout when it came to performance, though. However, it did offer the low noise-level that Seagate has a reputation for delivering...A lot has changed in the nearly two years since 2003, though. Now, the top drives from major manufacturers feature the SATA interface and twice the capacity. The competition in this space has really been heating up since early 2003. Western Digital released its Raptor line of SATA hard drives that featur ... more