Dell And EMC Set Up Merger Management Office To Integrate Teams

Dell and EMC have launched the Value Creation and Integration Office to coordinate the teams that will do the heavy lifting to bring the two companies together.

The companies put the office into action last week during a kickoff meeting hosted by Michael Dell, according to an internal blog written by EMC's Howard Elias, posted to the company's intranet site and filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The office's task is to formalize the integration planning already underway as part of Dell's proposed $67 billion acquisition of data storage giant EMC, and coordinate the "workstream" teams that will carry out integration work within specific areas of the businesses.

[Related: Dell's Rory Read: EMC Integration Will Be Done 6-9 Months After Acquisition Closes]

Those areas include: go-to-market, products/R&D, HR, finance, legal, sales, marketing, communications, IT, facilities, cost programs, organization/talent, enterprise services and manufacturing/supply chain/logistics.

Elias, EMC president and chief operating officer, and Dell COO Rory Read have been tasked with running the integration, reporting to EMC CEO Joe Tucci. Read told CRN last month that he expects the integration to be complete within six to nine months of the closing of the transaction, which could come anytime between May and October of next year.

"Each team is full of energy, ready to make this happen and get this done," Elias wrote in the blog. "We discussed rules of engagement and timelines, and this two-day meeting was an opportunity, first and foremost, for designated representatives from across Dell and EMC to meet, get to know each other and build relationships."

"We are all driving towards determining the future state of the of the combined Dell-EMC and the minimum necessary to be in place on Day 1, so each workstream developed charters, comprised of key objectives and milestones of the integration planning process and 30/60 day checkpoints to ensure progress against initial planning objectives," Elias wrote.

Elias' blog also serves to encourage employees as the deal takes shape. It's been reported that the IRS could take an unfavorable view of Dell's proposal for issuing a special tracking stock linked to the performance of VMware, putting the Round Rock, Texas-based company on the hook for a massive tax bill and possibly jeopardizing the deal.

Integration planning is also taking place as EMC's stock price continues its yearlong decline. EMC stock was trading at slightly more than $25.10 a share Tuesday. A year ago, it was hovering around $30 a share. Dell has offered EMC shareholders $24.05 cash and about $9.10 in VMware tracking stock for EMC.

"Everyone on the joint teams are working very hard together to help build the next great company for this new era in technology," Elias wrote. "One comment I heard over and over again from both Dell and EMC representatives across all of the teams was how many similarities there are across the two companies in terms of our desire to win, our approach and our cultures. … I am very motivated and energized by the level of collaboration across the teams and excited about the future."

PUBLISHED NOV. 17, 2015