Dell Inc, the second-biggest maker of personal computers, said that it agreed to buy Perot Systems Corp in a deal valued at about US$3.9 billion.
Terms of the agreement were approved on Sunday by the boards of directors of both companies, it said in a statement. Dell will begin a tender offer to buy all of the outstanding Class A common stock of Perot Systems for US$30 per share in cash, about 68 percent more than the company’s closing share price on Friday.
The move marks chief executive officer Michael Dell’s push into computer services as he farms out more of the company’s manufacturing. The deal will create an entity with annual services revenue of about US$8 billion, Dell said yesterday.
The Round Rock, Texas-based company said it expects the acquisition to be accretive in fiscal year 2012. Once the transaction is complete, Perot Systems will become Dell’s services unit, it said.
“This significantly expands Dell’s enterprise-solutions capabilities,” CEO Dell said in the statement. “The acquisition makes such great sense because of the obvious ways our businesses complement each other.”
The transaction, while not subject to a financing condition, will require government approvals and the satisfaction of other conditions, it said. Dell expects to close the deal in its November-January quarter.
Dell, on a quest to save US$4 billion a year, has farmed out 40 percent of the company’s manufacturing.
Shares of Dell, which ranks second to Hewlett-Packard Co in PC sales, fell 1 percent to US$16.69 on Friday. Perot Systems shares closed at US$17.91.
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