Tuesday, June 3, 2008

European Commission approves EMC acquisition of Iomega

By Mass High Tech Staff

Shortly after data storage company EMC Corp. announced Monday a second deadline extension on a cash tender offer for Iomega Corp., the European Commission accepted the acquisition proposal. The acquisition was granted without conditions.

On Monday, EMC pushed the deadline for tender offer, which included all outstanding share of Iomega common stock, back to Friday, June 6. In April, EMC submitted a $213 million purchase offer for Iomega. About 82 percent of Iomega stock, or almost 45 million shares, had been tendered as of Friday.

EMC’s initial $178 million unsolicited offer was rejected by Iomega in March.

Through the acquisition, Hopkinton-based EMC (NYSE:EMC) benefits from San Diego-based Iomega’s (NYSE:IOM) small and midsize business storage capabilities, according to officials. In 2007, EMC had 38,600 employees and posted a profit of $1.6 billion on revenue of $13.2 billion.