Firm recommends $67B EMC, Dell merger

Courtesy Photo EMC's subsidiary VMware will be part of the $67 billion sale but still be publicly traded.

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By Sam Bonacci

A proxy firm has recommended that shareholders vote for the $67 billion merger between Hopkinton’s EMC Corporation and Dell at the shareholder meeting set to be held July 19.

Glass Lewis, an independent proxy advisory firm, released a statement on Wednesday encouraging investors to vote for the merger.

"Overall, we find that the proposed transaction is financially and strategically reasonable from the perspective of EMC and its shareholders,” the firm said in its evaluation of the merger that was sent out in a release from EMC.

The firm cited the strong price for the stocks and the ability to continue to participate in the future of EMC subsidiary VMware, which will continue to be publicly traded after EMC goes private after the proposed merger with Dell.

The vote would pave the way for the completion of the Dell-EMC merger that was initially announced last September and has been approved by the European Commission and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. The takeover's $67-billion price tag is far above the current record-holding tech buy -- the $25-billion sale of Compaq Computer to Hewlett-Packard in 2002.

Still unresolved in the matter is what would happen to EMC employees, including the nearly 10,000 in Massachusetts.