Monday, June 9, 2008

EMC completes Iomega tender offer

By Mass High Tech Staff

After several weeks of delays, EMC Corp. has completed its tender offer for the outstanding shares of common stock of California-based Iomega Corp., and executives expect the deal to be completed within the next several business days.

Through the tender offer, which expired at the close of business on Friday, EMC (NYSE: EMC) has acquired approximately 45.5 million shares, representing approximately 83 percent (77 percent on a fully diluted basis) of Iomega’s outstanding common stock.

Precise financial details of the deal were not released. In April, EMC submitted a $213 million purchase offer for Iomega (NYSE: IOM). EMC also made an initial bid of $178 million for Iomega in March, which was rejected.

With the completion of the tender offer, EMC also announced its intention to acquire additional shares sufficient to represent ownership of more than 90 percent of Iomega’s outstanding shares. With the completion of the deal, Iomega will become a direct wholly owned subsidiary of EMC.

The acquisition is expected to give EMC access to Iomega’s 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.