Regulators Approve WD-SanDisk Merger

One of the biggest storage mergers to take place in recent memory has moved a step closer to completion. Two months after shareholders from Western Digital and SanDisk approved the deal, the last regulator has given the nod to the amalgamation. This means the deal will finally close today and bring the two storage giants under one roof.

Together, the two firms combine the massive hard drive ventures of WD, with the NAND and flash expertise of SanDisk. This finally gives WD the inroads it has been looking for into the NAND market, securing the companies long term future even if hard drives end up obsolete. SanDisk has been hurting a bit for cash and bringing in the wealth of WD will help the company grow their flash storage business. Both brands and their respective products are expected to be separate for now.

The big question is how long it will take for the two firms to work well together. The tech world is full of mergers that end up ruining both companies due to a failure to integrate properly and quickly. If the merger is successfully done, it leaves Seagate in a tight spot as the remaining HDD manufacturer without their own NAND supply to make SSDs.