HP has upped its $30-a-share bid for 3PAR last Friday to $33 a share, pushing 3PAR's valuation past $2 billion to about $2.1 billion.

3PAR sent out a statement Thursday morning saying that Dell went to $32 before the three-day clock ran out on it Wednesday at midnight, and HP countered with $33.

The 3PAR board has recognized HP's revised $33 bid as the "superior proposal" and says it has again told Dell it'll go with HP unless Dell puts more money on the table. Dell has three business days to better HP's bid under the perpetual matching rights clause in their original deal.

3PAR said that when Dell went from $27 a share to $32 a share its revised proposal included a termination fee of $92 million, $20 million more than the termination fee it negotiated last week, as well as a multi-year reseller agreement that HP would be saddled with that 3PAR says "contained fixed pricing and other terms that the 3PAR board of directors determined to be unacceptable."

On Friday Dell matched HP's bid of $27 and 3PAR accepted Dell offer. HP immediately went to $30 and last Friday night 3PAR's board acknowledged HP's money was "superior" to Dell's and told Dell it would terminate their merger agreement in three business days to go with HP. As it is, the merger agreement with Dell still remains in effect and 3PAR has to continue to recommend the Dell deal until it signs one with HP.

Wall Street apparently thinks Dell will sweeten HP's $33 bid because 3PAR stock started trading at $33.60 a share on the news.

Two weeks ago Dell thought it had 3PAR at $18 a share, roughly $1.15 billion. HP upset its apple cart a week later with an unsolicited bid of $24 a share.