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

To: TigerPaw who wrote (175968)	11/5/2007 11:29:28 AM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 176387

EqualLogic Defies The Odds...from the editor of PE Week Wire... Between 2000 and 2003, venture capitalists poured $3.64 billion into more than 300 “database and file management” companies, according to Thomson Financial. It reeked of desperation from VCs who had just struck out on ecommerce, nanotech, etc. The problem must be sector focus, they thought, not over-funding. If we just keep digging, there must be a homerun in there somewhere… No surprise, but most of these companies floundered. Not only were there too many of them, but they were in competition for a waning customer pie born of macro-economic difficulties (axe, meet new infrastructure purchase). So when yet another database and file management company got funded, it was met with a collective eye-roll. Particularly if its primary business was “storage area networking,” which was the buzzword used by nearly one-third of the aforementioned startups. All of this leads us to EqualLogic, a Nashua, N.H.-based… storage area networking company, which raised $12 million in Series A funding from Charles River Ventures and Sigma Partners in 2001. EqualLogic’s thesis was that the storage space was simply too complicated, due to the limited and proprietary nature of existing commercial verticals. The solution, it felt, would be to transpose the plug-and-play nature of Ethernet on storage (i.e., make it easy). Interesting concept, but folks like me didn’t pay too much attention. In fact, EqualLogic didn’t even merit its own write-up in PE Week. Oops. EqualLogic today announced that it will be acquired for approximately $1.4 billion by Dell. It is the largest all-cash M&A exit ever for a VC-backed company (according to VentureSource), and is particularly noteworthy considering how many of its storage peers have since fallen by the wayside. For context, EqualLogic’s final round of VC funding came in 2004, at a post-money valuation of under $100 million, from CRV, Sigma, Focus Ventures and TD Capital Ventures. Oh, and it’s based in New England – a region that really was in need of a VC-backed tech homerun. The company was actually scheduled to begin its IPO road-show tomorrow ($125m cover price), with most market watchers expecting major public market success. But Dell was fairly persistent in its pursuit – as was another attempted acquirer – and the EqualLogic board opted for a big-time payout and some valuable strategic synergies. “There was a lot of money invested in the storage space back when we first funded EqualLogic,” acknowledges Greg Gretch, a managing director with Sigma Partners. “But this was a class VC success story in that the company management was a group of tech people with a novel idea and vision… and those ideas combined with execution helped them succeed within a crowded market.”

To: TigerPaw who wrote (175968)	11/5/2007 11:57:48 AM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 176387

Dell Plans to Acquire EqualLogic: Catalyst for Simplifying and Virtualizing IT with Partners Globally dell.com November 5, 2007 Round Rock, Texas, and NASHUA, N.H. Dell has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire EqualLogic, a leading provider of high-performance iSCSI storage area network (SAN) solutions uniquely optimized for virtualization. The acquisition will strengthen Dell’s product and channel leadership in simplifying and virtualizing IT for customers globally. iSCSI SAN technology represents the fastest growing part of the storage business. “Our customers will be dealing with the largest increase in data we have seen in our history over the next few years,” said Michael Dell, Chairman and CEO, Dell. “Leading the iSCSI revolution will help Dell accelerate IT simplification and virtualization and will drive the Dell value proposition into more areas of the enterprise storage business,” Mr. Dell said. Under the terms of the agreement, Dell will purchase EqualLogic for approximately $1.4 billion in cash. The acquisition of EqualLogic is expected to close late in the fourth quarter of Dell's fiscal year 2008 or early in the first quarter of fiscal 2009. The company expects the acquisition to be dilutive to earnings per share, excluding the amortization of intangibles, by $0.02 to $0.05 in aggregate for Fiscal 2009 and Fiscal 2010. The acquisition has been approved by the board of directors of each company and is subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions. After completion of the transaction, Dell plans to grow EqualLogic’s successful channel-partner programs with current and future EqualLogic-branded products, and also plans to incorporate EqualLogic technology into future generations of its Dell PowerVault storage line available through the channel and direct from Dell. About Dell Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) listens to customers and delivers innovative technology and services they trust and value. Uniquely enabled by its direct business model, Dell is a leading global systems and services company and No. 34 on the Fortune 500. For more information, visit www.dell.com, or to communicate directly with Dell via a variety of online channels, go to www.dell.com/conversations. To get Dell news direct, visit www.dell.com/RSS. About EqualLogic EqualLogic® makes data storage systems that simplify the way enterprises of all sizes store and protect information. EqualLogic’s award-winning PS Series storage area network (SAN) solutions provide sophisticated management capabilities that reduce the time and money IT staff spend on data storage. Since shipping its first product in June 2003, EqualLogic has added more than 3,200 customers in 30 countries. Based in Nashua, N.H., EqualLogic has sales offices throughout North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific. For more information, please visit equallogic.com.

To: TigerPaw who wrote (175968)	11/5/2007 12:54:18 PM
From: Lizzie Tudor	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 176387

I bought some dell calls last week. I think they've turned the corner. Its a very small position because I am not up on dell right now, but I like the new XPS desktop design (the one with the LCD in the panel), and the new multicolor laptops and ads. The Dell dude was the best ad, where is that guy. Still in the slammer for pot? all in all dell looks pretty cheap- of course I will get some debate about that here- and Goldman put dell on their focus list.