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Technology Stocks : Dell Technologies Inc. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: OLDTRADER who wrote (141801)	9/9/1999 8:16:00 PM
From: Yamakita	Respond to of 176388

The Fools' take on the acquisition: ~~~ Dell Makes Data Storage Deal By Brian Graney (TMF Panic) Forgoing the internal growth route for the first time in its history, direct PC marketer Dell Computer (Nasdaq: DELL) announced late yesterday an acquisition, of all things. The target company is privately held ConvergeNet Technologies, a two-year-old maker of data storage technologies. Dell agreed to pay 6.9 million shares, or roughly $340 million, for the company and plans to take a $0.05 to $0.07 per share charge for in-process R&D once the deal closes. While the fact that Dell is making an acquisition at all is somewhat of a surprise in and of itself, the rationale behind the deal is even more intriguing. Instead of improving upon the amazing manufacturing prowess that has made Dell what it is today, the company is moving in a different direction and is acquiring technologies that it feels will give it a competitive advantage in the growing small- to medium-sized business storage market. ConvergeNet's storage area network (SAN) technology will allow Dell's PowerVault storage systems and also rival systems to connect to servers running any of a number of operating systems, from UNIX to Solaris to Windows NT to Linux. "Our customers want storage technology from Dell that connects with any open-standards server," said Michael Lambert, senior vice president of Dell's Enterprise Systems Group. "The technology we acquire with ConvergeNet will help make that happen." While having a technological edge over its data storage rivals could potentially boost Dell's margins down the road as the storage market grows in size, Dell is likely more interested in the future revenues and earnings that the addition of ConvergeNet could bring to the table. With its long-standing focus on the business market, the company will be able to offer its main customers attractive, complementary storage products to go along with their Dell server systems. The deal might also help promote a bit of technological "lock-down" for Dell in an enterprise server and data storage market that is sure to be full of competitors in the years ahead.