Dell’s founder and CEO Michael Dell took the company private in 2013 but prior to that time, Dell was a publicly traded company. The news came after a bad fiscal year for Dell, revenue was down 7 % in 2012 and profits were falling. Dell’s SEC filings from 2012 note “…decreasing revenues in the market for desktop and notebook PCs and the significant uncertainties as to whether, or when, this decrease will end…". The iPad was launched in 2010, and this may have disrupted the computer markets. Devices such as XPS 14, and XPS 10 failed to emulate the success of the iPad, it was becoming clear that Dell had to make some changes.
February 5, 2013, Dell had struck a $24.4 billion leveraged buyout deal that delisted its shares from NASDAQ and Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The downside of going private is that it can increase the company’s debt. However there are also benefits, Dell is able to restructure this outside of the public view, specifically, the company’s stakeholders would be able to take a long-term view of their business. Michael Dell has expressed that he “ is very happy to run a private company because he’s not bound to what he calls the ’90-day shot-clock’, where you get to report to the street every quarter and be bound by those quarterly targets” (Glenn O’Donnell, VP, research director… at Forrester). Investors can be difficult when a company attempts to restructure itself, as the likelihood of gaining positive returns diminishes for the next quarter or year. Consequently, as a private company, there is more flexibility in that you can do as much as you want.
On October 12, 2015, Dell announced its intent to acquire the enterprise software and storage company EMC Corporation. At $67 billion, it has been labeled the "highest-valued tech acquisition in history". The acquisition of EMC helps Dell bulk up its product portfolio, the combined business would address the markets for scale-out architecture, converged infrastructure and private cloud computing. Subsequently, this massive company is capable of pushing against the rising demand for cloud providers such as Amazon and Microsoft. The acquisition of EMC brought together the leading provider of computer storage products and one top maker of servers and personal computers. Consequently, making Dell a massive shop for businesses whilst competing from rivals in the cloud "What Dell tried to do was be big enough so they'd be a one-stop-shop for everything at a reasonable price," (John Parkinson, affiliate partner at Waterstone Management Group). Dell has been focused on bringing innovation in its technology services, partnerships, and products by making investments into its research and development. Dell has invested 2.636 billion in R&D in 2017 and 4.384 billion in 2018.
"We are at the dawn of the next industrial revolution. Our world is becoming more intelligent and more connected by the minute, and ultimately will become intertwined with a vast Internet of Things, paving the way for our customers to do incredible things," said Michael Dell in a statement. "This is why we created Dell Technologies. We have the products, services, talent, and global scale to be a catalyst for change and guide customers, large and small, on their digital journey”. In September 2016 Dell completed its acquisition of EMC, Dell was reorganized with a new parent company, Dell technologies. The other three subsidiaries are referred to as Dell (client’s solutions group), Dell EMC, and VMware which is a public company.
Dell is now considering for the second time, the biggest deal in tech history. The company is deciding whether to go public, acquire the remainder of VMware or undergo a "reverse merger" with VMware. This is largely motivated by new tax laws and changing interest rates as it is unfavorable to deal with the scale of the debt load under new laws. Dell’s is associated with its debt, which after the EMC acquisition accumulated to $40 billion. Dell is currently sitting on anywhere between $50 billion and $55 billion in debt according to O’Donnell. Going public may enable Dell to better manage or reduce that number by positioning itself to raise equity and find new investors; subsequently, with more public equity at hand they will be able to do more acquisitions and stay competitive whilst the cloud becomes more influential.
For now, at least, Dell is back. Despite the speculations regarding Dell’s future Strategic Decisions, as of now, it means nothing yet because “Dell’s not going anywhere”, said O’Donnell. The long-run impact is yet to be known. Looking back at the last 5 years, its clear no one should count out Dell – not as long as Michael Dell is in charge.