Dell becomes public company five years after buyout

SAN FRANCISCO: Dell, the onetime leader in personal computers and tech industry stalwart, said it will become publicly traded, five years after a contentious private equity buyout.

The company announced a stock swap deal with its software subsidiary VMware that will result in a reorganized tech giant that returns to the stock market, with founder Michael Dell retaining control as chairman and chief executive.

The move comes after a 2013 private equity buyout led by Michael Dell aiming to revive the company that fell behind when consumers turned to mobile devices instead of PCs.

“I am proud to lead this great company into its next chapter as we continue to evolve and grow to the benefit of our customers, partners, investors and team members,” Michael Dell said in a statement.

“Unprecedented data growth is fuelling the digital era of IT, and we are uniquely positioned with our portfolio of technologies and services.”

The new Dell is far from the maker of personal computers that helped ignite the personal computer market in the 1990s.

It acquired the data storage group EMC in 2016 for a whopping US$67 billion and is a major player in software, security and cloud computing in addition to its PC business.

Michael Dell, who currently owns 72 per cent of Dell Technologies common shares, struck a deal with the private equity firm Silver Lake to take the company private in 2013 in an effort to reorganize without pressure from public shareholders.

The move came amid fierce opposition from some shareholders led by billionaire investor Carl Icahn, who called the plan a ‘giveaway.’

Dell will trade on the New York Stock Exchange after completion of the deal, expected later this year, the company said. — AFP