European Union reportedly to approve $67B EMC-Dell merger

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By Sam Bonacci

Reports are coming in that the proposed $67-billion acquisition of Hopkinton-based EMC by Dell is set to receive approval from the European Union.

The acquisition of the Massachusetts information storage company by the mammoth Texas computer company is set to sail through the European Union’s antitrust regulators without any concessions, according to a Reuters report that said a ruling will come in at the end of the month.

This is good news for a merger that other reports have called into question in light of a tightening credit market. With Dell reportedly needing to raise $45 billion for the acquisition, this is a potentially costly hurdle for the massive purchase. However, Dell Chief Integration Officer Rory Read has said that the acquisition financing is a go in an open letter to Dell employees that was then filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Dell-EMC combo, which will retain EMC subsidiary VMware, will be the most expensive technology merger in history when the deal closes. The takeover's $67-billion price tag is way above the current record-holding tech buy -- the $25-billion sale of Compaq Computer to Hewlett-Packard in 2002.

Unresolved in the matter is what would happen to EMC employees, including the nearly 10,000 in Massachusetts. The question of jobs comes as VMware has announced it will lay off 800 employees and a new chief financial officer will come in. The layoffs are expected to cost the company $55-$65 million in the first half of 2016 but will result in savings moving forward, according to the company.