Dive Brief:

• The deal to buy EMC is confirmed. The PC maker will purchase EMC for a record $67 billion, Reuters reports.
• The deal is expected to help Dell diversify from the sluggish PC market and give it access to the more profitable market for managing and storing data.
• The deal will combine Dell's server businesses with EMC's storage and virtualization assets.

Dive Insight:

Dell founder Michael Dell has been trying to transform his company into a provider of enterprise computing services for the last several years. The merger means Dell will be better equipped to compete in areas such as cloud computing, mobility and cyber security.  

"I don’t think either Dell or EMC were viable over the long run as a standalone; they really needed each other," said Eric Johnson, dean of the Owen School of Management at Vanderbilt University. "Dell was mostly on the consumer side, which is a terrible place to be. EMC had some enterprise products, but not the complete package."

EMC's board has approved the merger, which includes a 60-day 'go-shop' provision that allows EMC to solicit bids from other parties, though experts say they doubt that will happen.

EMC has reportedly been looking to make a change for over a year. Recently, Elliott Management Corp. has been pressuring the company to spin off its VMware unit, a move EMC was resisting.

EMC has a market capitalization of about $50 billion. According to International Data Corp, Dell currently ranks third in global PC shipments.