The European Commission has approved Dell’s USD 67 billion acquisition of data storage company EMC, the last major regulatory hurdle holding up the closure of the deal. The takeover was approved by US regulators in February and is still subject to approval by EMC's shareholders and regulatory clearance in smaller markets. The EC confirmed that the merged company would still face strong market competition from companies such as Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Hitachi. "I am pleased that we have been able to approve Dell's multibillion dollar takeover of EMC within a short space of time while making sure that there would be no adverse effects on customers,” said EU competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the value of the EMC buyout has dropped from USD 67 billion to around USD 58 billion since it was announced in October because Dell’s offer is pegged, in part, to shares of EMC subsidiary VMware, which have dropped more than 40 percent in the intervening months. Dell has said it expects to close the deal by October.
