戴爾670億美元收購EMC 創業界紀錄
Striking the largest technology takeover ever, the computer maker Dell and the investment firm Silver Lake confirmed on Monday that they would acquire EMC for about $67 billion.
電腦製造商戴爾(Dell)和投資公司銀湖集團(Silver Lake)達成了科技產業規模最大的收購案，本週一雙方證實，將斥資約670億美元收購EMC。
The buyout of EMC will be the latest stage in Dell’s evolution from a pioneering manufacturer of personal computers to a provider of services for businesses. The acquisition of EMC brings Dell one of the biggest names in computer data storage, adding to existing offerings like network servers, corporate software and mobile devices.
戴爾正在從頂尖的個人電腦製造商轉型爲企業服務供應商，收購EMC是其轉型的最後一個階段。戴爾現有的產品包括網絡服務器、企業軟件和移動設備等，收購EMC之後，數據存儲領域的一個大品牌也被納入了戴爾旗下。
“The combination of Dell and EMC creates an enterprise solutions powerhouse bringing our customers industry-leading innovation across their entire technology environment,” said Michael S. Dell, who will lead the combined company as chairman and chief executive. “Our new company will be exceptionally well positioned for growth in the most strategic areas of next-generation I.T.”
“戴爾與EMC合併後將形成一個企業解決方案巨頭，爲我們的客戶提供橫跨整個科技環境的一流創新。新公司將在下一代信息技術中最重要的戰略領域裏佔據一個極其有利的位置，”邁克爾·S·戴爾(Michael S. Dell)說。他將領導合併後的公司，擔任董事長兼首席執行官。
Under the terms of the deal, Dell will pay $24.05 a share in cash to EMC shareholders and shares of a tracking stock tied to EMC’s 81 percent stake in VMware, which makes so-called virtualization software. VMware would continue to be a publicly traded company. The stock component would give EMC shareholders a total of roughly $33.15 a share, a premium of nearly 28 percent to EMC’s stock price on Wednesday, before news reports emerged of the talks between the two companies.
根據交易條款，戴爾將向EMC股東支付每股24.05美元的現金，由於EMC持有虛擬化軟件廠商VMware公司81%的股份，戴爾還會向股東提供一些追蹤股。VMware將繼續作爲上市公司存在。綜合來看，EMC股東可以獲得每股約33.15美元的價格，與EMC上週三的股價相比，溢價近28%，當時這兩家公司談判的消息尚未報道。
Shares of EMC were up 1 percent in midday trading, at $28.19.
EMC股價午盤上漲1%，達28.19美元。
The deal resolves much of the uncertainty about EMC, which over its 36-year history has grown from data storage into a collection of businesses, including network security and content management for corporate clients. The company has struggled over the last decade as the cost of data storage has plummeted, and as additional acquisitions failed to reverse its fortunes.
這宗交易消除了關於EMC的很多不確定性。該公司有36年的歷史，最初是一家數據存儲廠商，後來拓展了多種業務，包括爲企業客戶提供網絡安全和內容管理服務。但在過去十年中，隨着數據存儲的成本大幅下降，EMC步履維艱，它採取的一些收購行動也未能扭轉其命運。
More recently it has been under pressure from Elliott Management, a $25 billion hedge fund known for shaking up companies it believes are underperforming.
最近，它處在了埃利奧特資本管理公司(Elliott Management)的壓力之下。這是一個250億美元規模的對衝基金，擅長重組其認爲表現不佳的公司。
After Elliott called for a radical shift in EMC’s strategy, the company brokered a truce in January by adding two new directors. Yet as months went by with no movement — and a standstill agreement barring the hedge fund from speaking publicly expired last month — the activist investor pressed for updates.
埃利奧特呼籲，EMC應在戰略上做出重大調整。之後，該公司在今年1月增加了兩名新董事，雙方以這種方式達成了休戰。然而幾個月過去了，EMC沒有采取任何行動，而一份禁止該對衝基金公開發言的維持現狀協議已於上個月到期，於是這家行動派投資機構施加壓力，要求EMC有所行動。
Monday’s deal appeared to satisfy Elliott’s concerns, however; the hedge fund declared the transaction acceptable. (The firm expects to turn a profit from its investment, according to people briefed on the matter.)
週一的協議似乎滿足了埃利奧特的要求，該對衝基金宣佈交易可以接受。（據瞭解情況的人士透露，該公司預計會從投資中獲利。）
“This is a terrific outcome,” Jesse Cohn, Elliott’s head of equity activism in the United States, said in a telephone interview. “As activist shareholders, it’s hard to find any fault in this process.”
“這個結果很棒，”埃利奧特負責美國境內股權行動的傑西·科恩(Jesse Cohn)在接受電話採訪時說。“作爲行動派股東，很難找到程序上的錯誤。”
Taking EMC private could afford that company the same sort of breathing room Dell has enjoyed.
讓EMC私有化可以讓該公司享有和戴爾公司一樣的喘息空間。
The deal will be financed with new equity from Mr. Dell; his family office, MSD Partners; Silver Lake; and Temasek, a Singapore state-owned investment company.
協議涉及的資金將來自邁克爾·S·戴爾、他的家族公司MSD合夥公司(MSD Partners)、銀湖(Silver Lake)及新加坡國有投資公司淡馬錫(Temasek)注入的新股本。
Still, the takeover is an ambitious bet on a number of fronts. While the rapid pace of big mergers and acquisitions has not stopped, Dell, in buying EMC, would acquire a huge amount of debt. Credit Suisse and JPMorgan Chase are coordinating the global financing effort.
此次收購反映出戴爾對諸多戰線寄予厚望。迅速開展大規模併購的步伐尚未停下來，戴爾在收購EMC的同時，會背上鉅額債務。瑞信(Credit Suisse)和摩根大通(JPMorgan Chase)正在協調全球的融資行動。
But that money would be borrowed before an expected rise in interest rates.
不過借這筆錢時，市場預期的加息可能還不會實施。
And it would mean making Dell even bigger at a time when companies of all stripes believe smaller is better. Many huge tech companies have announced plans to break themselves into their components, each devoted to a particular part of the market.
這意味着在各種企業均認爲規模越小越好的時候，戴爾公司的規模會變得更大。很多大型科技公司已宣佈打算分拆，讓各分支專注於特定的市場。
Moving away from the conglomerate model, proponents contend, means that each business will have greater focus from both management and from shareholders, hopefully resulting in a higher stock price for the new companies.
支持者稱，放棄大型企業集團的模式，意味着管理層和股東會更關注各家企業，也有望帶來新公司股價的上漲。
Tech companies have been no exception. Hewlett-Packard, for instance, is close to completing a split of its enterprise services business from its personal computer arm. EBay spun off its PayPal payments business from its core e-commerce market division earlier this year.
科技公司也不例外。比如，惠普(Hewlett-Packard)把企業服務業務從個人電腦部門拆分出來的行動已接近完成。今年早些時候，eBay也把PayPal支付業務從核心的電子商務平臺剝離。
EMC itself has been criticized by investors for its so-called federation, a collection of businesses that range from data storage to networking to content management, though its management has largely rebuffed calls for a total breakup of the company.
EMC因其整合式的經營模式，即囊括從數據存儲到網絡再到內容管理的一系列業務，而備受投資者的批評。不過該公司的管理層總體上回絕了徹底拆分公司的呼聲。
Yet Mr. Dell and his counterpart at EMC, Joe Tucci, argue that sticking with the one-stop-shop business model would help it draw corporate customers eager to buy servers.
邁克爾·S·戴爾和EMC的CEO喬·圖奇(Joe Tucci)稱，堅持一站式購物的商業模式，有助於吸引急需購買服務器的企業客戶。
Dell’s headquarters will remain in Round Rock, Tex., and the headquarters of the combined enterprise systems business will be in EMC’s hometown, Hopkinton, Mass. Mr. Tucci will continue as chairman and chief executive of EMC until the transaction closes.
戴爾公司的總部仍將留在德克薩斯州朗德羅克，合併後的企業系統業務總部將位於EMC的家鄉，即馬薩諸塞州霍普金頓。圖奇將繼續擔任EMC的董事長和首席執行官，直到交易完成。
