According to Bloomberg, Insight Venture Partners will respond to a $25.50-a-share bid that Quest Software Inc. (QSFT) received from an unidentified suitor.  This could intensify a takeover battle for the software maker, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Bloomberg reported:

Insight sweetened its March 9 offer of $23 a share for Quest, after the software maker said last week it got a higher offer from a strategic bidder, said the person, who declined to be identified because the process isn’t public. Dell Inc. (DELL) was the unnamed bidder, according to a Reuters report last week.

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The last time Dell engaged in a public takeover fight was in 2010, when it lost storage company 3Par Inc. to Hewlett-Packard Co., which bought it for $2.35 billion, after the 18-day bidding war tripled the company’s market value. 

With the 3PAR acquisition, Dell dropped out of the process and said that HP overpaid for the company.  If indeed Dell is the company bidding on Quest, will they battle Insight further?  Or will Insight also overpay, ending the process again for Dell?  Quest has advanced 43 percent this year and closed at $26.61 yesterday, and has a market value of $2.2 billion. 

The story continues.