EMC has extended its $1.8bn all-cash offer for Data Domain until July 10, 2009 as lawsuits continue to muddy the waters. Angry investors have filed a proposed securities class action lawsuit in the Delaware Chancery Court against the Board of Data Domain, NetApp, and their acquisition entities.

According to the complaints the plaintiffs allege that Data Domain's Board has refused a $30 per share all cash offer from EMC Corporation. Instead, the Board has decided to accept the offer of NetApp Inc., which imposed a 'no-shop' provision and a $57 million termination fee on Data Domain. The lawsuits allege that the members of the Board of Directors of Data Domain are breaching their fiduciary duties to their shareholders by refusing to negotiate with a potential acquirer, EMC Corporation (EMC), and for agreeing to sell Data Domain to NetApp without taking any steps to maximize the price paid to Data Domain's shareholders. One plaintiff argued NetApp had offered positions on its board to Data Domain executives. In a particular, there are rumours that Data Domain chief executive Frank Slootman could be the next chief executive of NetApp. If this is true it raises questions as to whether the sales process conducted by the board was fair and open. Another investor has filed a separate lawsuit, arguing that Data Domain’s board of directors had given NetApp an improper bidding advantage.

EMC Corporation (NYSE: EMC) proposed to acquire all of the outstanding common stock of Data Domain, Inc. (Nasdaq: DDUP) for $30.00 per share in cash, a transaction with a total enterprise value of approximately $1.8 billion. EMC's all-cash proposal was superior to the proposed NetApp transaction until NetApp countered Wednesday with a matching bid composed of a mix of stock and cash. EMC's proposal is not subject to a financing or due diligence contingency, and the company will use existing cash balances to finance the transaction. EMC is promptly commencing a tender offer for all outstanding Data Domain common stock in order to expedite the timing of this transaction. The proposal was unanimously approved by the EMC Board of Directors. On June 15 Data Domain rejected the EMC offer arguing it preferred NetApp’s bid. NetApp holds a 20 per cent stake in the company, compared to EMC’s 0.5 per cent. In a Friday statement, EMC chairman and chief executive, Joe Tucci, “We continue to anticipate a routine review by the FTC resulting in a timely regulatory approval.”

Previously to NetApps machting bid NetApp Inc. announced that it agreed to buy data backup and disaster recovery systems provider Data Domain Inc.(Public, NASDAQ:DDUP) for $25 per share in cash and stock. Under the terms of the NetApp offer, Data Domain shareholders will receive $11.45 in cash and between 0.682 and 0.833 shares of NetApp stock for each share of Data Domain they own. Based on the closing price of NetApp stock prior to the announcement, the transaction is valued at approximately $25 per share, or about $1.5 billion. NetApp intends to operate Data Domain as a product line within NetApp’s product operations organization. NetApp said it has the "distribution channels and international reach to offer Data Domain products to more customers, accelerating growth and market adoption." Data Domain later signed NetApp's sweetened agreement.

Data Domain, Inc. is located in Santa Clara California and had $123.62million in total revenue in 2007 and $274.08million in total revenue with a net income of $21.59million in 2008. DDUP shares were down from a 52weekHigh of $25.16 per share and reached $39.24 per share in October 2007.