Western Digital Corp's deal to buy Hitachi Ltd's hard disk drive business for $4.3 billion will create a global industry leader with the resources to tap expensive next-generation storage technology. Investors cheered the largest technology deal to be struck this year that allows the Japanese company to rid itself of a volatile business and re-focus on growth areas. They pushed Western Digital's stock 19 percent higher and Hitachi's U.S.-listed stock up 5 percent. The combination of the sector's No. 2 and No. 3 players also takes excess capacity off the table and should stem a price war that had crippled margins in the sector for years. Rival Seagate Technology's stock jumped 12 percent.
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