Personal coputer manufacturing company Dell and private equity firm Silver Lake said on Monday 12 october that they would buy data storage firm EMC for $33.15 a share for a total price tag of about $67 billion in the largest deal in technology industry history, USA Today reports.
The deal, confirmed on Monday, was previously reported by The New York Times. Shares of EMC rose 8% in pre-market trading.
"We're continuing to evolve the company into the most relevant areas where (information technology) is moving," Dell told USA Today in an interview. "This deal just accelerates that."
Joe Tucci, chairman and chief executive officer of EMC told BBC that: "The waves of change we now see in our industry are unprecedented and, to navigate this change, we must create a new company for a new era. I truly believe that the combination of EMC and Dell will prove to be a winning combination for our customers, employees, partners and shareholders."
An EMC press release said: "EMC shareholders will receive $24.05 per share in cash in addition to tracking stock linked to a portion of EMC's economic interest in the VMware business. Based on the estimated number of EMC shares outstanding at the close of the transaction, EMC shareholders are expected to receive approximately 0.111 shares of new tracking stock for each EMC share...EMC shareholders would receive a total combined consideration of $33.15 per EMC share and the total transaction would be valued at approximately $67 billion."
Two years ago, Michael Dell, took the computer making company he founded private with financial backer Silver Lake in a $25 billion buyout. Now Michael Dell is reinventing the company into an enterprise player focusing on storage and security. EMC has been negotiating with Dell and Silver Lake on a sale after previous talks with Hewlett-Packard collapsed.
The EMC statement said: "The combination of Dell and EMC will create the world's largest privately-controlled, integrated technology company. The company will be a leader in the extremely attractive high-growth areas of the $2 trillion information technology market with complementary product portfolios, sales teams and R&D investment strategies. The transaction combines two of the world's greatest technology franchises with leadership positions in servers, storage, virtualization and PCs and it brings together strong capabilities in the fastest growing areas of the industry, including digital transformation, software-defined data center, hybrid cloud, converged infrastructure, mobile and security."
Michael Dell and related stockholders will own approximately 70 per cent of the company's common equity, excluding the tracking stock, similar to their pre-transaction ownership. Following completion of the transaction, Michael Dell will lead the combined company as chairman and chief executive officer. Mr. Tucci will continue as chairman and chief executive officer of EMC until the transaction closes. Dell's headquarters will remain in Round Rock, Texas, and the headquarters of the combined enterprise systems business will be located in Hopkinton, Mass.
