Shareholders of Round Rock-based Dell Technologies voted Tuesday to take the company public after operating for five years as a private company. The closing of the roughly $23 billion move will happen at the end of the month.
More than 61 percent of unaffiliated shareholders cast a ballot, according to a news release from the company. Of those, more than 89 percent voted in favor of the move.
"We appreciate our stockholders' support. With this vote, we are simplifying Dell Technologies' capital structure and aligning the interests of our investors," said Michael Dell, Chairman and CEO, Dell Technologies. "This strengthens our strategic position, as we continue to deliver innovation, long-term vision and integrated solutions from the edge to the core to the cloud. We've created Dell Technologies to be our customers' most trusted partner in their digital transformation."
Dell, with help from the investment firm Silver Lake, went private in 2013. The company said the move gave it the freedom to dramatically expand its technology offerings. In July, founder and majority shareholder Michael Dell hinted the company was prepared to go public again.
In 2016, when Dell acquired the data-storage firm EMC Corporation for $67 billion, it also acquired a controlling interest in the cloud computing company VMware, trading privately as DMVT.
The agreement approved today by the board means Dell will buy out the DVMT tracking stock. These are the shares that track Dell's interest in the software firm VMware, which was already publicly traded.
Dell's Class C common stock will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange on Dec. 28. It will be under the ticker symbol “Dell.”
Dell has over 100,000 employees; roughly 14,000 work at the headquarters in Round Rock. Michael Dell will hold onto his role as chairman and CEO, while the Silver Lake will keep its minority stake.
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