According to Dell, the two companies have entered into a definitive agreement and the acquisition of EqualLogic is expected to close late in the fourth quarter of Dell’s fiscal year 2008 or early in the first quarter of fiscal 2009.
“Our customers will be dealing with the largest increase in data we have seen in our history over the next few years,” said Michael Dell, Chairman and CEO, Dell. “Leading the iSCSI revolution will help Dell accelerate IT simplification and virtualization and will drive the Dell value proposition into more areas of the enterprise storage business,” he added.
Dell already announced plans to integrate EqualLogic’s technology into future versions of its Dell PowerVault storage line. EqualLogic’s brand will also be retained for current and future products.
EqualLogic provides high-performance iSCSI storage area network (SAN) solutions optimized for virtualization.
The company expects the acquisition to be dilutive to earnings per share, excluding the amortization of intangibles, by $0.02 to $0.05 in aggregate for Fiscal 2009 and Fiscal 2010. The acquisition has been approved by the board of directors of each company and is subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.