Seagate Technology on Wednesday said it would buy rival computer disk-drive maker Maxtor Corp. for $1.9 billion in stock, aiming to cut combined costs and drive development of new products.

In the deal, which would give Seagate an estimated 42-45 percent share of the disk drive market, Maxtor shareholders will receive 0.37 shares of Seagate common stock for each Maxtor share they own.

Seagate shareholders will own about 84 percent and Maxtor shareholders about 16 percent of the new combined company.

Seagate said its executive management team will continue to serve in their current roles and the combined company will retain the Seagate name.

The deal comes as Maxtor, whose biggest customer is No. 1 personal computer maker Dell Inc., has been restructuring and battling increasingly stiff competition.