Dell Inc. (Nasdaq: DELL) announced on Thursday that it would not be continuing the bidding war against Hewlett-Packard Co.(NYSE: HPQ) for data-storage company 3Par Inc (NYSE: PAR).

Dell made a statement on Thursday saying that it wont increase its bid to match HP’s offer for 3Par, of $33 per share, or $2.07 billion. The decision came less than an hour after 3Par announced it had received Dell’s revised offer of $32 per share and then the higher offer for $33 per share from HP.

3Par said  in a statement that Dell’s new offer included new terms that it did not agree with, terms included a multiyear reseller agreement with Dell that would remain in valid even if 3Par were to be purchased by another company. HP’s latest offer is 83 percent above the first offer.

Dave Johnson, Dell’s senior vice president for corporate strategy said “We took a measured approach throughout the process and have decided to end these discussions,”

In morning trading on Thursday Shares of 3Par increased 74 cents, or 2.3 percent, to $32.82.

Dell shares were up 15 cents, or 1.3 percent, to $12.29, and shares of HP, increased 21 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $39.42.

As part of an agreement between Dell and 3Par, 3Par must pay Dell a $72 million termination fee.

Burger King Holdings Inc.  (NYSE: BKC) on Thursday has agreed to be acquired by private equity firm 3G Capital in a deal valued at $4 billion including debt.

A day after speculation of the deal had sent shares up more than 15 percent, 3G makes an offer for Burger King for $24 per share, the deal had increased stock gains before the market even opened on Thursday.  Thats a 46 percent premium since reports of a deal were even announced which closed at $16.45 on August 31. Under the agreement Burger King has until October 12 to still solicit higher bids.

Burger King’s 12,100 locations have struggled due to the economy affecting its most profitable customers which are young males. The company is the second-largest hamburger chain in the U.S,  far behind much larger rival McDonald’s Corp.But with 12,100 locations, it’s struggled because the economy has been bad for its most important group of customers: young men.

In the agreement, Burger King’s Chairman and CEO John Chidsey will become Co-Chairman of the board and 3G Managing Partner Alex Behring will be the other co-chairman.

Four years after a consortium of private equity firms acquired the company, Burger King became a publicly traded company in 2006.

American Software Inc. (Nasdaq: AMSWA), business software maker, on Wednesday reported that its net profit was up 16 percent in the first quarter as the company gained increased revenue from services and maintenance contracts.

American Software earned $1.4 million, or 5 cents per share, in the last quarter. In comparison to net income of $1.2 million, or 5 cents per share, during the same quarter last year. If the company didn’t have additional expenses covering employees stock compensation and acquisitions,The company mentioned it would have earned 6 cents per share.

Revenue increased 7 percent to $19 million.

Maintenance revenue for American Software  in the recent quarter was up 4 percent to $7.1 million and services revenue jumped 34 percent to $9.2 million.

shares of American Software gained 14 cents to close at $5.23.

Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO) is reportedly looking to purchase Skype before the Internet phone provider goes public. That’s according to the web publication TechCrunch.

TechCrunch reports that it wasn’t able to confirm the speculation. It also mentioned that Google had been interested in buying Skype but is not planning to make an offer, due to potential antitrust concerns.

Skype had filed last month to sell $100 million of shares in a U.S. initial public offering; its top three owners, Silver Lake Partners Ltd., Andreessen Horowitz and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, meant that to be “an advertisement for suitors to call,” the newspaper the new york post cited from its source.

The three owners purchased a majority interest in Skype for $3.1 billion last November; an IPO would probably value the business at $5 billion, the Post said.

Cisco declined to comment. Skype was not immediately available for comment.