Dell (DELL) confirmed Thursday it's in exclusive buyout talks with Compellent Technologies (CML), but the proposed buyout price for the data storage company is apparently less than what investors were betting on. Compellent shares tanked, falling as much as 15% to an intraday low of $28.58 a share.

Dell, which said its offering $27.50 per share, may have been looking to nix Compellent's steep run up in share price over the past few days. Compellent, which had been trading in the high teens for a number of months, jumped to the mid-20s in late October. But since the start of December, Compellent's shares have rocketed even higher, hitting a new 52-week high of $34.16.

In its announcement, Dell said the companies are in "advanced talks" about a possible combination. The struggling computer maker said it intends to tender an all-cash offer for Compellent, which would further its move into the enterprise data storage market. But Dell noted in its statement that there's no guarantee the deal will be consummated.