NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Dell announced Monday that it has agreed to buy Quest Software, a company that makes management tools for corporate IT departments.
The $2.4 billion cash deal has been widely expected for several weeks. Quest announced in mid-June that it had received an offer from an unnamed company; Dell's name soon emerged as the likely buyer.
Dell (DELL, Fortune 500) said the company fits well with its IT services unit, which is its fastest-growing line of business.
Dell will buy each share of Quest for $28 a share, 17% above the closing price before Quest initially announced Dell's offer.
Quest (QSFT) had initially accepted a $2 billion buyout offer from private equity firm Insight Venture Partners in March. But the company said on June 14 that it had received a higher bid, which ultimately turned out to be from Dell.
Dell's $28 per share bid is 44% above Quest's stock price before the Insight's bid was first announced.
Dell is no stranger to bidding wars, but it doesn't always come out on top. The company engaged in a brutal battle with Hewlett-Packard (HPQ, Fortune 500) over cloud storage company 3par in 2010. After nine back-and-forth bids, HP eventually won the battle for nearly double Dell's original offer. 
