UPDATED 04:37 EDT / FEBRUARY 12 2016

NEWS

Will it? Won’t it? New doubts raised over Dell-EMC takeover

Dell Inc.’s proposed $67 billion takeover of EMC Corp. is once again, with the New York Post reporting that bankers are having difficulty in raising the necessary cash to fund the acquisition.

When the deal was announced last October it looked to be cut and dried, with Dell carefully laying out its plans to fund the takeover. However, that was five months ago, and five months is a long time in the tech business, which has been hard hit by the worldwide slump in stock prices.

Now, the New York Post says that the JP Morgan-led banking consortium that’s supposed to get the funds together is having difficulty in raising the first $10 billion it needs. As such, it’s asked for a 10-day extension in order to price and sell bonds to credit markets. The Post quoted anonymous sources in its reports.

The New York Post didn’t say what might happen if the banks fail to raise the required funds in the next ten days, but the outcome probably won’t be a happy one for Dell or EMC. Even more worrying perhaps is that this isn’t the first time concerns have been raised about the deal. Several obstacles have emerged since October, with worries being raised about the enormous debt Dell will be lumbered with ($49 billion) to the alarming fall in EMC and VMware Inc.’s share prices. The issue of VMware’s “tracking stock” is also a concern. The complex acquisition plan called for tracking stock to be allocated to VMware’s shareholders as a way of making the deal more attractive to them. But the value of that tracking stock has fallen much further than EMC’s share price, which means shareholders could well be short-changed.

There have also been several reports of lawsuits aiming to stop the deal dead in its tracks, while recently, concerns have been raised that Dell might use VMware’s profits as a way to pay off the enormous debt it’ll take on if the deal closes.

Separately, the New York Post says Dell is having trouble finding a buyer for its Perot Systems business. Dell is reportedly asking for $5 billion to sell the business, with that cash being earmarked to help fund the EMC deal. However, it seems that front-runner Atmos has pulled out of the bidding for Perot Systems due to worries over its stock price. Two other companies, NTT Data and Tata, are still said to be in the running, but are thought to be playing hardball over the price.

Despite all these worries, both Dell and EMC publicly maintain the deal will still go through. At the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference 2016 in San Francisco this week, EMC board member Bill Green told attendees that the deal will close on time “unless an act of God happens”. Meanwhile, a Dell spokesperson told the New York Post that the deal “is on schedule under the original timetable and the original terms,” in response to its report.

Interestingly, the New York Post reported for the first time the price Dell will have to pay if the deal does break down. Under the terms of the proposed deal, Dell will need to stump up $4 billion in compensation to EMC if it doesn’t complete the takeover.

Image credit: lovelikeahurricane0 via pixabay.com

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