14 DAY TRIAL // Dell has officially gone private for approximately $24.4 billion (€18 billion), with Microsoft to be one of the companies that will provide financial support for the transaction.
Even though it remains to be seen whether Microsoft will actually benefit from its involvement in the Dell privatization, the Redmond-based technology giant says it’s all for the good of the industry.
The company released a statement saying that its $2 billion (€1.4 billion) loan to the group behind the whole project of getting Dell private is actually a way to show its commitment to the PC industry.
“Microsoft has provided a $2 billion [€1.4 billion] loan to the group that has proposed to take Dell private. Microsoft is committed to the long term success of the entire PC ecosystem and invests heavily in a variety of ways to build that ecosystem for the future,” the company said in a statement released a couple of minutes ago.
“We're in an industry that is constantly evolving. As always, we will continue to look for opportunities to support partners who are committed to innovating and driving business for their devices and services built on the Microsoft platform.”
There’s a lot of speculation regarding Microsoft’s decision to get involved in Dell’s process to go private, with some sources familiar with the matter hinting that the software giant wants to make sure that Dell sticks to Windows in the upcoming years.
Dell is already a longtime Microsoft partner and the majority of its products already use the Windows operating system.
Others, on the other hand, hinted that, while Microsoft isn’t looking to take control of Dell, it’s actually planning to make Windows 8 the main focus of the company. The partnership could thus spawn new ultrabooks, hybrids and laptops running the new Windows contraption.
More details on Dell’s privatization are available here.