Dell to Buy EMC for $67B; Sharpen Focus on Large Enterprises and HPC
Dell will buy the storage provider EMC (NYSE: EMC) in a deal worth about $67 billion, reports The New York Times today (Dell Announces Purchase of EMC for $67 Billion). Dell and the investment firm Silver Lake, its financial backer, are betting that a huge acquisition will help one of the best-known names in the industry keep up with the rapidly changing technology industry.
“Under the terms of the deal, Dell will pay $33.15 per EMC share, which includes cash plus tracking stock linked to part of EMC’s economic interest in VMware, a publicly traded business. The Dell founder and chief executive, Michael S. Dell will lead the combined company as chairman and chief executive, according to a press release from Dell.
“For the last two years, since taking the company private, Mr. Dell and Silver Lake have been trying to help it adapt to a changed tech landscape. Buying EMC brings Dell one of the biggest names in computer data storage, adding to existing offerings like network servers, corporate software and mobile devices,” the NYT report said.
The Wall Street Journal reports the deal “cements Dell’s transition from a consumer-oriented company to one focused on technology for large companies (Dell to Buy EMC for $67 Billion)…[in] biggest technology-industry takeover ever.” Formal announcement of the deal follows widespread reports last week of the imminent merger.
Talking about the change, EMC CEO Joseph Tucci is quoted in a Boston Globe report saying, “I’m tremendously proud of everything we’ve built at EMC – from humble beginnings as a Boston-based startup to a global, world-class technology company with an unyielding dedication to our customers,” Tucci said in a statement on Monday announcing the deal. “But 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.’’
