EMC Corp. (EMC), having now received regulatory approval to move forward with a deal, raised its takeover bid for Data Domain Inc. (DDUP) by 11% to $2.2 billion as it battles NetApp Inc. (NTAP) for control of the maker of data-storage products.

EMC raised its all-cash offer to $33.50 a share from last month's bid of $30. The company stepped in after Data Domain agreed to a cash-and-stock offer of $25 a share from NetApp. Then Data Domain subsequently agreed to a higher price of $30 from NetApp to match the EMC bid.

Investors had been expecting still-higher bids for the company, with Data Domain's stock trading above $30 for much of the bidding battle. Its shares were recently up 94 cents, or 2.8%, to $34.15.

The latest move by EMC pushes the bidding war closer to an end-game scenario, said Jefferies & Co. analyst Bill Choi. EMC, analysts have said, has a clear advantage in the fight, with billions of dollars more in its war chest. It can also continue to offer an all-cash deal, while NetApp's offers most likely will remain a combination of cash and stock.

"The question is, knowing largely you can't go head to head with EMC on an offer and expect to win, does NetApp come back and try to at least match this to keep the saga going?" asked Choi.

NetApp, as a smaller company than EMC and in offering a combination of cash and stock, faces greater risks of earnings dilution from a potential deal as the price increases, Choi said. For EMC, this revised offer, he said, "Doesn't move the needle."

EMC reiterated Monday its deal offers "greater certainty" and a higher value per share than NetApp. EMC said the deal could be completed within two weeks, a month earlier than NetApp's offer. EMC added it has removed all deal protection provisions - including a break-up fee - and urged Data Domain's board to do the same with its NetApp deal.

EMC thinks the $33.50 a share offer, and the changes to the deal provisions, will now be enough to secure Data Domain, said a source familiar with EMC's thinking.

If it elected to continue in the bidding war, EMC expects NetApp would need to raise the offer above EMC's price while also abandoning the deal protection provision that would give NetApp a $57 million breakup fee.

"If you're NetApp and you think the end of this movie is you can't outbid EMC, why do you stay in and lose your breakup fee?" said the source. "I don't see how they can justify continuing, I just don't."

A Data Domain spokesman declined to comment while NetApp officials did not respond to requests for comment.

EMC again extended its tender offer to July 17 at midnight, EDT. As of Thursday, about 195,353 shares, or 0.2%, had been tendered, or about 20,708 more than on May 26, when EMC had last extended the offer.

The new offer comes after an early determination from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission that removed all regulatory conditions required to proceed with the deal. The FTC reviewed the deal to determine if there were any anti-trust implications in the acquisition, and the process was seen as a speed bump ahead of further bids.

Both EMC and NetApp were cleared to proceed. Meanwhile, NetApp's offer, which was accepted by Data Domain June 3, is currently scheduled to be voted on by Data Domain shareholders on Aug. 14.

Data Domain specializes in technology that helps eliminate the storage of redundant data, and its particular niche makes it attractive to bigger players EMC and NetApp.

"With regulatory requirements now fulfilled, and in light of the clearly superior proposal we submitted to Data Domain's Board of Directors today, we expect Data Domain to sign our definitive agreement that will deliver superior value in cash to the Data Domain stockholders in as little as two weeks," said EMC Chief Executive Joe Tucci in a press release.

EMC shares were recently up 1 cent to $12.79. NetApp shares fell 45 cents, or 2.4%, to $18.51.

-By Jerry A. DiColo, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2155; jerry.dicolo@dowjones.com

(Tess Stynes contributed to this report)