Dell Gets China Approval For EMC Acquisition, Sets Date To Close Deal

Dell has received anti-trust approval from Chinese government authorities and plans to close its landmark acquisition of data storage giant EMC Sept. 7, the company said.

The company said Tuesday that it would begin its life as Dell Technologies as soon as the transaction closes. Dell's holding company, Denali Holding, officially changed its name to Dell Technologies last week.

Mark McKeever, partner at Tempe, Ariz.-based solution provider and Dell Premier partner MicroAge, said solution providers have waited long enough for the $65 billion deal to reach its conclusion.

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"Let's get on with business," McKeever said. "It's something that a lot of the community is looking forward to, and we're ready to get on with it." McKeever said the question now is whether Dell can transition smoothly to life as a more than $70 billion global IT conglomerate.

"We expect material change in the Dell enterprise program, and in the EMC enterprise program, but I will take it on faith that they'll do a good job with it," McKeever said. "Dell has done an excellent job with everything they've done in the channel. They'll have to reconcile the cultures. They'll have a lot of EMC leadership in there, and if it goes well at the top, it should flow through and it should go well. We're rolling up our sleeves and pressing the flesh with EMC people. We're working those relationships."

The acquisition was unveiled last October with a target to close within a year. The deal gained anti-trust approval from U.S. and European regulators in short order, but China's Ministry of Commerce took its approval process almost to its last possible day.

August marks six months since Dell first applied for anti-trust approval from China's Ministry of Commerce. That process must be completed within a maximum of 180 days, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and only rarely takes that long. Most applications are approved within 30 days, and the vast majority are approved within 120 days, according to international law firm DLA Piper's "Practical Guide to Merger Control in China."

"Finally," said Michael Tanenhaus, CEO of Mavenspire, an Annapolis, Md.-based solution provider that works with Dell. "I'm still looking forward to the cross-sell opportunities, and looking forward to hearing the vision. The bottom line is that this has been a done deal for a while, and they've been waiting for it to actually be done. I've been waiting too, and it's good to have it done."

"Our business has seen multiple years of high double- and triple-digit growth on Dell enterprise products," Tanenhaus said. "That is a hugely accelerating marketplace. Having more tech to sell and integrate, and everyone really being focused on delivering cloud-like experiences, those things are done with stacks of hardware and software. I would assume growth."