Dell Going Public On Dec. 28 Following Shareholder Approval Vote

It’s the dawn of a new day at Dell Technologies. The infrastructure giant is set to become a public company on Dec. 28, 2018, after more than 61 percent of shareholders approved the company’s bid to become public through a VMware stock swap.

"With this vote, we are simplifying Dell Technologies' capital structure and aligning the interests of our investors," said Michael Dell, chairman and CEO of Dell Technologies, in a statement Tuesday. "This strengthens our strategic position, as we continue to deliver innovation, long-term vision and integrated solutions from the edge to the core to the cloud. We've created Dell Technologies to be our customers' most trusted partner in their digital transformation."

Dell expects its Class C shares to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Dec. 28. After months of discussions and negotiations with investors, Dell Technologies received the stockholder approval it needed to become public on Tuesday during a special meeting at its Round Rock, Texas-based headquarters.

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Dell Technologies Class C shares will trade on the New York Stock Exchange as DELL. The company was listed on the New York Stock Exchange with the tracker DELL from 1988 to 2013, at which time Michael Dell and private equity firm Silver Lake Partners bought Dell back from public shareholders for $24 billion.

With the successful completion of its VMware stock swap transaction, solution providers are gearing up for increased channel investment from a publicly traded Dell Technologies.

Dan McCormick, executive vice president at Davenport Group, a St. Paul, Minn., solution provider that works with Dell EMC and VMware, said he expects the transaction to accelerate the company's already fast-growing business with Dell EMC and VMware.

"We've seen an ongoing commitment to align products, services, solutions and programs, and in the last six months, to align field operations as well," McCormick said. "The investments Dell Technologies has been able to bring together through collaboration with VMware will continue to accelerate. We've outpaced the market with our growth, and we see it accelerating."

McCormick said further investment in the integration of Dell EMC and VMware solutions plays well in a market trending toward hybrid solutions that combine traditional hardware, public and private cloud.

"We see the integration between Dell EMC and VMware open up net-new opportunities for the channel, and for us specifically," McCormick said. "The value in that to the customer is a more integrated approach, and the value we bring is the understanding of all the pieces that are part of that solution. We think that is going to accelerate in the market, and we would up our projections for growth based on the outcome of this transaction."

Holders of more than 61 percent of Dell Technologies' Class V common stock, excluding affiliates of Dell Technologies like Michael Dell and Silver Lake, voted in favor of the transaction. Votes in favor of the transaction constitute more than 89 percent of the Class V shares voted by unaffiliated Class V common stockholders who cast a ballot.

"We believe that Dell Technologies is best positioned to succeed in today's data-driven economy thanks to the unique collection of businesses that Michael and his team have assembled and look forward to remaining long-term investors in the company," said Egon Durban, managing partner and director of Silver Lake, in a statement. "It is exciting to be able to now share the value creation across all of the businesses and assets of Dell Technologies with public investors, and we look forward to them joining us on this journey."

After weeks of negotiations and a heated battle between Dell Technologies and activist investor Carl Icahn, among others, shareholders approved a deal to exchange each share of DVMT VMware tracking stock for Class C common stock, or $120 per share.

Dell initially proposed exchanging shares of the tracking stock for significantly fewer Class C shares, or $109 per share. The proposal drew the ire of Icahn and other investors who argued Dell had severely undervalued the transaction and should pony up for shareholders. Icahn, who owns about 9.3 percent of DVMT shares, kicked of a short-lived proxy battle with Dell when he sued Dell in October. Icahn withdrew the suit in November, calling it "unwinnable" after Dell sweetened the stock swap deal.

The closing of the deal is expected to occur on Dec. 28 and is subject to satisfaction of closing conditions.