Technology

Dell to pay $67bn for EMC in largest ever tech deal

Two technology giants employs more than 6,000 people in Ireland, mostly in Co Cork

Dell has announced that it will acquire data storage provider EMC, creating a corporate-computing giant in the largest-ever technology merger.

Mon Oct 12 2015 - 07:46

Dell will buy data storage company EMC in a deal valued at about $67 billion, the largest on record in the technology sector.

The offer is $33.15 per share in cash and special stock, the companies said in a joint statement on Monday. EMC shares were up 3.9 per cent at $29.08 in premarket trading.

The deal will help the world’s No.3 PC maker tap into the faster-growing and lucrative market for managing and storing data for businesses amid waning demand for personal computers globally.

Dell said it would pay $24.05 per share in cash and the rest in a special stock that tracks the value of a portion of EMC's economic interest in VMware, the virtualisation software company majority-owned by EMC.

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Dell, Emc and VMware employ more than 6,000 people in Ireland. EMC has a workforce of over 3,000, most of which are based in Cork, while Dell employs over 2,300 across three sites in Dublin, Cork and Limerick. VMware, which EMC is the parent company of, employs more than 700 people in Cork.

EMC established a presence in Ireland in 1988 with its first manufacturing facility outside of North America in Ovens, Cork, followed by sales offices in Dublin (1990) and Belfast (2005). The Cork facility is the largest manufacturing site of EMC outside of the US, and in 2009 it became a a Centre of Excellence incorporating research and training.

Dell’s Innovation Centre in Ireland is one of the largest customer centres of its kind in the country.

“The combination of Dell and EMC creates an enterprise solutions powerhouse,” said Michael Dell, who will lead the combined company as chairman and chief executive.

EMC’s board has approved the merger agreement and intends to recommend that the company’s stockholders approve the deal.

The deal will be financed through a combination of new equity from Michael Dell, MSD Partners, Silver Lake and Singapore state-owned investor Temasek Holdings as well as the issuance of the tracking stock, new debt and cash on hand.

VMware will remain an independent, publicly traded company. VMware shares were unchanged at $78.65.

Reuters

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