EMC’s $67B merger with Dell, a timeline

Joseph Tucci, president and CEO of EMC Corp.

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By Sam Bonacci

July 22, 2015: Hopkinton software firm EMC Corp. lowered its outlook for the year in a row despite an increase in revenue, with President and CEO Joseph Tucci saying business as usual is … rarely a good strategy. This left the Central Massachusetts community wondering what would become of the firm and its 9,400 local employees.

Oct. 12: Texas' Dell Inc. announced it will acquie EMC for $67 billion. The merger would take the data storage company private but leave its cloud-storage subsidiary VMware to be traded on the public market. The takeover's price tag soared above the then record-holding tech buy of $25 billion Hewlett-Packard paid for Compaq Computer in 2002. Dell CEO Michael S. Dell said the computer company would put its server business into EMC, bringing the facility's revenue to a $30-billion-plus business.

Dec. 14: The tech buy passed its first major hurdle, after the "go shop" period passed with no other buyout proposals.

Jan. 27: The underlying concerns about layoffs rear their head with the announcement that VMware would lay off 800 employees, mostly in California. The company announced Jonathan Chadwick, VMware's chief operating officer and executive vice president, was leaving the company.

Feb. 22: The purchase received U.S. Federal Trade Commission approval.

Feb. 29: The European Union officially approves the acquisition.

March 2: The president and COO of VMware stepped down to join California venture capital firm Sequoia Capital in a continuing exodus from the company.

June 2: With regulatory approvals either in line or expected to come through, Denali Holding Inc., the parent company of Dell, raises $20-billion that will go towards Dell's $67-billion purchase of EMC.

June 7: EMC announced a special shareholders meeting for July 19 that will finalize the purchase on EMC's end.

July 6: As the merger vote date approached, Glass Lewis, an independent proxy advisory firm, released a statement encouraging investors to vote for the merger. It cited the strong price for the stocks and the ability to continue to participate in the future of VMware.

July 19: EMC's shareholders vote to approve the acquisition. The vote by approximately 74 percent of shareholders was 98 percent in favor of the merger. The combined company will continue to be called Dell.

Regulatory approval from China remains the final hurdle for the merger of the companies.