* HP offers $24 a share to acquire 3PAR
* Campbell may bid for United Biscuits: report
* 3M CEO says may double acquisition money spent in 2010
* Futures up: Dow 41 pts, S&P 500 3.7 pts, Nasdaq 12.5 pts
(Updates prices)
By Ryan Vlastelica
NEW YORK, Aug 23 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Monday as sentiment was lifted by several potential mergers and deals.
Hewlett-Packard Co bid $24 a share in cash for 3PAR Inc, sending the data storage company's stock up 38 percent to $24.97 in premarket trading. The $1.6 billion offer tops a competing bid by technology rival Dell Inc. HP, a Dow component, edged 0.8 percent lower to $39.54, and Dell gained 0.3 percent.
Campbell Soup Co may make a $2.3 billion break-up bid for Britain's United Biscuits, which is owned by private equity firms PAI Partners and Blackstone Group LP, according to a report in the London-based Sunday Times.
And George Buckley, the chief executive of 3M Co, said the Dow component may spend about $2 billion on acquisitions in 2010, twice its previous estimate.
"Companies are flush with cash right now, and this suggests that they're finally getting to the point where they want to put their money to work," said Michael O'Rourke, chief market strategist at BTIG LLC in New York.
O'Rourke added that he would prefer companies use their cash on hiring and capital expenditures, but "this is obviously a good sign for the markets."
Last week Intel Corp moved to acquire software maker McAfee Inc for $7.7 billion.
S&P 500 futures rose 3.7 points and were above fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 41 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 12.5 points.
Concerns about the strength of the recovery have intensified in recent weeks, with weak economic data adding to the cautious tone and depressing trading volume levels. Both the Dow and S&P have notched two straight weeks of losses.
October crude oil futures rose 0.6 percent to $74.24 per barrel, though prices were close to last week's six-week lows on bulging U.S. inventories.
The Federal Reserve plans to reduce American International Group Inc's credit line by about $3.6 billion in a sign of growing confidence that the government bailed-out insurer can emerge from taxpayer support, Bloomberg said, citing a person with knowledge of the proposal.
AIG rose 0.8 percent to $35.45 before the bell.
U.S. stocks slipped on Friday and the S&P 500 and Dow fell on persistent concerns the recovery has tapered off. For the week, the S&P 500 was down 0.7 percent and the Dow slipped 0.9 percent, while the Nasdaq gained 0.3 percent on some positive outlooks in technology shares.