News

Quantum Buys Into NAS Market

• By Scott Bekker
• 05/11/1999

Quantum Corp. took a large step into the network attached storage (NAS) appliance market when it finalized an agreement today to acquire Meridian Data Inc.

As part of its storage systems business strategy, Quantum (www.quantum.com), a mass storage company, made the move to incorporate Meridian (www.meridian.com), a supplier of network attached storage solutions. Quantum acquired ATL Products (www.atlp.com) in 1998 and has now solidified plans to integrate Meridian to help fill the objectives of its strategy which include two main points: to enter the market for NAS appliances; and to develop software that supports embedded intelligence in storage devices and systems.

By integrating Meridian, Quantum gains the rights of Meridian's NAS products and storage development software. Therefore this acquisition allows Quantum to sell the products under their own name and immediately enter the storage systems market with established product lines.

According to the terms of the agreement, Meridian will operate as a subsidiary of Quantum, with employees reporting to Quantum's president of DLT and storage systems group, Peter van Cuylenburg. Additionally, for each share of Meridian stock shareholders will receive .489 of a share of Quantum stock. The estimated cost to Quantum for the acquisition is about $85 million. -- Alicia Costanza