From ComputerWorld: Western Digital has agreed to buy SanDisk for around $19 billion in cash and stock.
The deal, approved by the boards of both companies, will create a storage giant with expertise in hard disks and flash memory, assuring the future of WD as its traditional business of spinning disks is gradually replaced by solid-state chips.
WD has recent experience of big mergers, having acquired hard disk rival Hitachi Global Storage Technologies in a $3.9 billion deal. Although the deal closed in March 2012, the companies still operate under two separate brands, WD and HGST.
SanDisk and WD are already partners. In 2013 they collaborated on a hybrid drive combining a hard disk with solid-state storage.
The WD-SanDisk deal will create a storage business with a giant patent pool. Together, the companies have 15,000 patents granted or pending, according to WD.
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