By Tess Stynes 

Hewlett-Packard Co. agreed to acquire wireless-networking company Aruba Networks Inc. in a deal valued at roughly $2.7 billion, expanding H-P's capabilities in the mobile market.

H-P is offering $24.67 a share, a 1% discount to Aruba Network's close on Friday, when the stock reached the highest level in nearly two years following a report about a possible deal. Including cash and debt, the companies valued the deal at roughly $3 billion.

H-P Chairman and Chief Executive Meg Whitman said the deal will combines Aruba's wireless mobility solutions with H-P's switching portfolio, allowing the company to offer most secure networking solutions to help enterprises easily deploy next-generation mobile networks.

Cantor Fitzgerald analysts said the planned acquisition complements H-P's networking portfolio, given H-P's bigger push into the networking market over the past few years, which included the $2.7 billion acquisition of 3Com Corp. in 2010, the analysts think the planned acquisition complements H-P's networking portfolio. However, Cantor also thinks H-P's capital would be better spent on cloud and Big Data software-related vendors.

Analysts at Mizuho Securities USA Inc. added that despite Aruba's strong revenue growth, the deal was unlikely to solve growth issues within H-P, and the firm estimated that Aruba's potential revenue contribution would represent less than 2% of H-P Enterprise's overall revenues.

Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Aruba Networks reported revenue of $729 million in fiscal 2014.

The H-P and Aruba operation will be led by Aruba Chief Executive Officer Dominic Orr and Chief Strategy and Technology Officer Keerti Melkote. They will report to Antonio Neri, head of H-P Enterprise Group.

Both companies' boards of directors have approved the deal.

Hewlett-Packard in October unveiled plans to separate its personal-computer and printer businesses from its corporate hardware and services operations, which has been billed as the growth engine.

H-P's strong market position in corporate hardware such as computer servers and personal computers hasn't helped it in newer areas like cloud software and mobile computing, where the company remains largely irrelevant. Sales fell in its software segment, which is supposed to be a future growth engine for the company--an emblem of H-P's tough market position.

Write to Tess Stynes at tess.stynes@wsj.com

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