Dell, EMC complete largest tech deal as company looks to invest

[SAN FRANCISCO] Dell Technologies wrapped up the acquisition of EMC Corp in the largest technology deal in history, positioning the company to use its size to invest in new areas and fend off competition from the cloud and other rivals.

The combination creates a US$74 billion business that serves 98 percent of Fortune 500 companies, Dell said in a statement Wednesday. It also takes EMC out of the glare of the public markets since Dell is closely held.

The tie-up, valued at about US$67 billion when it was first announced almost a year ago, brings together the leading provider of key storage products and one of the top makers of servers and personal computers as both companies grapple with rising interest in cloud-based services from rivals such as Amazon.com Inc, Microsoft Corp and Alphabet Inc's Google. Dell Technologies plans to invest US$4.5 billion a year in research and development going forward after cumulative investments of more than US$12.7 billion over the past three years, according to the company.

"We've got the ability to innovate at scale and invest - not for next quarter, but we have the agility and speed of a startup, but the scale and reach of the largest company in the industry," Michael Dell, chairman and chief executive officer of the company, said in an interview. "Being private gives us an ability to focus on our customers like no other competitor can."

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