Dell to sell software group to Francisco Partners, Elliott Management for reported $2 bn plus

Dell Inc. today struck a deal to sell its software group to private-equity firm Francisco Partners and hedge fund Elliott Management Corp.

Dell did not disclose the financial terms of the deal, but Reuters reported that the transaction is in excess of $2 billion.

Debt financing for the transaction was provided by Credit Suisse Group AG and RBC Capital Markets.

Dell Software's portfolio of solutions span a number of areas critical to the modern business and IT management landscape, including advanced analytics, database management, data protection, endpoint systems management, identity and access management, Microsoft platform management, network security, and performance monitoring.

The deal bolsters Francisco Partners and Elliott Management's technology portfolios with the addition of Dell Software's diverse combination of security, systems and information management, and data analytics solutions.

Dell, run by Michael Dell, who took his namesake company private in 2013, has been divesting assets to help fund its $67 billion acquisition of data-storage company EMC Corp.

The Texas-based company raised $3.06 billion in March by selling its information-technology services businesses to Japan's NTT Data Corp, and a month later raised $112 million by taking its cyber security company SecureWorks Corp public.

EMC is seeking to sell its Documentum business as part of a plan with Dell to divest more than $6 billion in assets.