Dell Merger 'Financially And Strategically Reasonable,' Independent Firm Tells EMC Shareholders

EMC shareholders are being encouraged to vote for the company’s proposed merger with Dell, EMC said Wednesday.

Glass Lewis, an independent proxy advisory firm, said the transaction, valued at more than $62 billion, is ’financially and strategically reasonable from the perspective of EMC and its shareholders,’ and comes at ’an attractive premium.’

"It simply validates that this appears to be good for all parties," said Stephen Monteros, vice president of operations at Sigmanet, an Ontario, Calif.-based solution provider that works with Dell and EMC. ’When two of your largest suppliers appear amicable while they are in the process of combining, we feel confident things will start out on the right foot."

EMC shareholders are scheduled to vote on the merger proposal July 19. For each share of EMC stock they hold, shareholders get $24.05 and .111 share of Dell holding company Denali Holding tracking stock tied to the performance of VMware for each share of EMC stock.

[Related: Former Dell CTO Perez Takes Top Tech Job With JPMorgan]

The transaction, said to the be largest in the history of the industry, will create a nearly $80 billion global IT conglomerate with market-leading positions from PCs to high-end data storage arrays.

In a statement Wednesday, EMC Chairman and CEO Joe Tucci said, ’We are very pleased that Glass Lewis is recommending EMC shareholders vote ’for’ the proposed merger with Dell. I firmly believe, as does EMC’s board of directors, that the coming together of EMC and Dell is the best strategic option for all stakeholders.’