The fast-moving merge between Dell and EMC – that’s worth US$50bn and will easily become the largest tech deal in history – is set to be announced today, according to reports.
Late last week it emerged that Dell’s offer was “worth at least US$30 a share” to EMC but that was then revised down to still impressive US$27.25 a share, thus bringing the total value of any deal to US$53bn.
There was also a deal to “track” shares in VMWare, a company part-owned by EMC and previously rumoured to be in line for a full spinning-off from the company.
Now, after just a few days, reports have emerged that the deal is all set to be announced, which would prove a remarkably swift process were it to bear fruit.
Dell execs unaware
Arik Hesseldahl, who has been reporting a lot on the deal for Re/code, claims that many top executives at Dell , the third-largest computer manufacturer in the world, were unaware of how fast the deal had progressed.
Citing unnamed sources, he reported that numerous top execs were away on business when the news broke, with Michael Dell and Joe Tucci, the CEOs of Dell and EMC respectively, largely handling the negotiations.
The tracking of VMWare shares seems a complication that may scupper support from Elliott Management, a major shareholder in EMC.
Elliott has, for a while now, pressed to spin off VMWare, thus garnering a more attractive proposition for a buyout.
Through the three companies, 6,000 people are employed in Ireland (3,000 at EMC, 2,300 at Dell and 700 at VMware), with those jobs now up in the air until the full details are finalised.
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