Dell

Computers, servers and storage · taken private by Silver Lake, MSD Partners

Entry value$24.9BOct 29, 2013 · deal value Exit value$32.6BDec 28, 2018 · First-day close × shares Multiple1.31×exit ÷ entry, see below Years private5.2Oct 29, 2013 → Dec 28, 2018

Michael Dell and Silver Lake took Dell private in October 2013. Private, Dell agreed to buy EMC (and with it control of VMware), paid for largely with debt and a VMware tracking stock, and in December 2018 came back to the NYSE through the Class V exchange rather than an IPO. It returned as a far bigger and far more indebted company, so the before and after values are not like for like.

THE CYCLE · SILVER LAKE + MSD PARTNERS

Dell | private 5.2 years, out at 1.31×

in$24.9B→out$32.6B·1.31×

private public · every tag links its source

What happened, step by step

Dell completed its go-private deal with Michael Dell and Silver Lake, valued at about $24.9 billion: $13.75 a share in cash plus a $0.13 special dividend; the stock left Nasdaq.Take-private · Oct 29, 2013
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M&A Agreed to combine with EMC in a deal valued at about $67 billion, led by Michael Dell, MSD Partners and Silver Lake, paid partly in a VMware tracking stock (Class V).While private · Oct 12, 2015
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Focus Repositioned from PCs toward data-centre infrastructure: software-defined data centres, converged infrastructure, hybrid cloud, mobile and security.While private · Oct 12, 2015
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Structure Concluded a strategic review by agreeing to swap the Class V tracking stock for listed Class C shares or cash, the route back to the NYSE.While private · Jul 2, 2018
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Debt Came back with about $44.4B of net debt, much of it from the EMC purchase.While private · Dec 28, 2018
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Dell Technologies Class C stock began regular trading on the NYSE after the Class V transaction, in which Dell paid $14 billion in cash and issued Class C shares for its VMware tracking stock.Back to market · Dec 28, 2018
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The multiple, read every way

First-day close × shares $24.9B take-private against about $32.6B at the first day's close (about 718.4M shares × $45.41): about 1.3×.1.31×
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Disputed on the day On the day, the market value was reported as $16B (Refinitiv, counting only the Class C shares) and as $34B (on 754.9M shares outstanding).
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Not like for like The company that relisted had absorbed EMC, a $67B purchase, and carried about $44.4B of net debt. Counting the debt it was worth roughly three times the 2013 deal value; the equity values compare a much smaller company with a much bigger one.
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Not like for like: Dell bought EMC while private, mostly with debt, so the 2018 equity value belongs to a different and far more indebted company than the one taken private in 2013.

Exit value worked out as about 718.4M shares of common stock × the $45.41 first-day close (price).

The systems angle

The rebuild was a move from PCs to data-centre systems and cloud infrastructure; AI appears only as one of the trends Silver Lake named in 2018.

“Since becoming a private company, Dell has had the flexibility and agility to focus completely on customers”Michael Dell · announcing the EMC deal · Oct 12, 2015
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“Our new company will be exceptionally well-positioned for growth in the most strategic areas of next generation IT”Michael Dell · announcing the EMC deal · Oct 12, 2015
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“Unprecedented data growth is fueling the digital era of IT, and we are uniquely positioned”Michael Dell · on the route back to the NYSE · Jul 2, 2018
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“the new era of emerging technology trends including IoT, AI, Machine Learning, 5G”Egon Durban, Silver Lake · on the route back to the NYSE · Jul 2, 2018
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Sources (6)

silverlake.com /dell-completes-go-private-transaction/
lightreading.com /it-infrastructure/dell-shares-listed-on-nyse
sec.gov /Archives/edgar/data/0001571996/000119312518360943/d673794dex991.htm
siliconangle.com /2018/12/28/returning-public-markets-dell-starts-trading-16b-valuation
silverlake.com /michael-s-dell-msd-partners-and-silver-lake-lead-transaction-to-combi
silverlake.com /dell-technologies-concludes-strategic-review-and-reaches-agreement-to

How this is researched

Researched by hand from primary sources: the companies' and buyers' press releases, SEC filings (prospectuses and 8-Ks) and credible press. Each source logo links the page that states the row; anything we couldn't source is left out. The multiple is exit value over entry value as the sources state them; the readings above say where the two are not like for like. Updated Oct 12, 2026.