Dell Inc. took a large step outside the personal computer business on Monday by buying IT services company Perot Systems Corp. for about $3.9 billion US.
The computer seller based in Round Rock, Texas, offered $30 per share in cash for every one of Texas-based Perot’s 121 million common shares, a 68 per cent premium over Perot’s closing share price Friday.
The deal provides “compelling opportunities for improved efficiencies,” CEO Michael Dell said in a conference call.
Dell’s deal is seen as a challenge share to IBM and Hewlett-Packard.(Mark Lennihan/Associated Press)
The move is the biggest purchase ever aimed at competing with International Business Machines Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co. in computer services. Companies hire computer services firms to manage their IT systems externally with the aim of saving money.
“This was a move designed to try to catch up with its competitors,” said Shaw Wu, an analyst at Kaufman Brothers LP in San Francisco.
Perot shares shot up 66 per cent in premarket trading Monday in reaction to the news.
Dell said Perot, founded by former presidential candidate H. Ross Perot, will expand the company’s IT services offerings for businesses and widen the pool of potential customers for its computers.
Perot’s son, H. Ross Perot Jr., is chair of the company, and expected to join Dell’s board once the deal closes, which is expected to be in the upcoming November-January quarter.
Analysts have been expecting an acquisition from Dell, which hired IBM Corp.’s former mergers and acquisitions chief earlier this year and has raised almost $1 billion in debt since March.
The company’s shares fell 79 cents, or 4.7 per cent, to $15.90 in premarket trading.
With files from Bloomberg.com
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