Who really gives a $hit?
"Major shareholder pushes EMC to split its businesses" by Callum Borchers | Globe Staff October 08, 2014
A major shareholder in EMC Corp. is pushing the Hopkinton-based data-storage giant to break up its business and consider merger and acquisition opportunities with other large technology companies.
Elliott Management, a New York City hedge fund, said in a letter to EMC’s board of directors Wednesday that the company should spin off its VMware software unit — following through on reports in July that the fund, which is known as an activist investor, would lobby for a split after accumulating more than $1 billion in EMC stock.
Gotta get the divorce first.
But Elliott’s suggestion that EMC join forces with another high-tech player is a new position that adds fuel to ongoing speculation in the industry that EMC could unite with rival Hewlett-Packard through a merger or by one company buying some or all of the other.
The two have reportedly been in talks for about a year, with progress on a deal having stalled in September.
HP, based in Palo Alto, Calif., announced a breakup of its own on Monday, saying it will form two companies: one for personal computers and printers and another for enterprise software products and services.
The move is widely considered by analysts to enhance the prospect of a marriage with EMC, which probably would not be interested in the computers and printers business.
Wow, jilted at the altar.
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Other large tech companies have recently decided to spin off major units or are seriously considering such moves. The online retailer eBay said in September that it would divorce itself from the electronic payments processor PayPal, forming two separate companies next year. Software maker Symantec is reportedly mulling the division of its security and data-storage businesses.
I'm sure I could go find links, but why bother?
“These developments speak to the growing pressures and growth challenges that mature technology stalwarts are facing in today’s evolving technology landscape,” said Daniel Ives, an analyst at FBR Capital Markets & Co. “In the current technology environment, shareholder pressure and activism are having an increasingly strong impact.”
Strange thing to be saying in the midst of an economic recovery that is gaining steam and stuff.
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Did you know Jesse Cohn is a portfolio manager for Elliott?
Also see: EMC Suit All About Pure Storage
There is riches in them data collections!
"HP action indicates merger talks with EMC have ended" by Michael J. de la Merced | New York Times October 16, 2014
My printed copy says they appear dead.
Hewlett-Packard Co.’s decision to resume buying back its shares probably signals that the company has ended talks to merge with the data-storage provider EMC Corp.
In a short announcement Wednesday, HP said it was resuming its existing stock-repurchase program, suspended during its third fiscal quarter because it possessed “material nonpublic information.” The buybacks could resume because the company no longer had that information.
Looks like $hell game to me.
People briefed on the matter have said HP was in talks to merge with EMC for months, which would have led to the creation of a technology titan. But the negotiations stalled several times over various issues, including price.
Reuters reported Wednesday that talks between the two companies had taken place even last week, but the discussions were definitively over.
Representatives for HP and EMC, which is based in Hopkinton, declined to comment.
That does not mean deal-making has been ruled out in the future for the companies.
A re$urrection!
HP announced last week that it planned to split itself into two public companies, one focused on services for corporate customers, the other on printers and personal computers.
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Related: Hacking Apart HP
It just occurred to me that all these mergers, acquisitions, spin-offs and such that the ma$$ media crow about are simply the last throes of corporate capitalism as it cannibalizes itself.
UPDATE: EMC to face critics who worry it’s stagnating
The critics are from Wall Street.
