Dell explores sale of cybersecurity company SecureWorks to trim debt pile

A sale of SecureWorks, in which Dell holds an 85% stake, would allow the latter to trim its $50 billion debt pile.

Computer maker Dell Technologies Inc is exploring a sale of SecureWorks Corp, a U.S. provider of cybersecurity services with a market value of close to $2 billion, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

A sale of SecureWorks, in which Dell holds an 85 percent stake, would allow the latter to trim its $50 billion debt pile, after it decided to become a publicly traded company last year through a complex deal involving its software subsidiary VMware Inc.

SecureWorks is working with investment bank Morgan Stanley on a sale process for the entire company that is in its early stages, the sources said, asking not to be identified because the matter is confidential.

Dell and SecureWorks declined to comment, while Morgan Stanley did not respond to a request for comment.

(Business Standard)

SecureWorks, based in Atlanta, offers information security solutions aimed at protecting corporate networks from cyberattacks to 4,300 clients in more than 50 countries, according to its website.

Dell acquired SecureWorks for $612 million in 2011 and then floated the company on the stock market in 2016. SecureWorks shares are up 64 percent since then.

In December, Dell became a publicly traded company following a $23.9 billion deal to buy back shares tied to its interest in VMware, which it acquired when it bought buy data storage company EMC for $67 billion in 2016. EMC owned a majority stake in VMware.

Last year, Dell decided to shun a traditional IPO route amid uncertainty over how stock market investors would respond to its $50 billion debt pile.

This meant it would not receive any IPO proceeds that would have allowed it to pay down debt.

Dell founder Michael Dell has turned to dealmaking to transform his company from a PC manufacturer into a broad seller of information technology services, ranging from storage and servers to networking and security.

Dell has sold many of its non-core assets in the past. In 2016, for example, it sold its software division to buyout firm Francisco Partners and the private equity arm of activist hedge fund Elliott Management Corp for more than $2 billion.

Elliott increased its stake in Dell to about 5.6 percent earlier this month. A source familiar with the matter said the hedge fund believes the company's shares should be trading higher based on its ownership stakes, including in SecureWorks. Elliott could not be reached for comment.

Owner of Zara, Indiatex to make all its brands available online by 2020

Inditex sells brands including Pull&Bear, Massimo Dutti, Bershka, Stradivarius, Oysho and Uterque across its network of almost 7,500 physical shops.

Inditex, the world's largest clothing retailer and owner of the Zara chain, said on Tuesday it would sell products from all its brands on the Internet around the world by 2020, including in markets where it does not have any stores.

Faced with younger, online-only merchants like Boohoo.com and Missguided, the Spanish company which pioneered the fast-fashion concept in the 1980s is developing new technologies, pairing up with tech firms and testing new ways of handling stock.

Chief Executive Pablo Isla told reporters in Milan that a system whereby online customer orders could be covered with store inventory would be extended to all 96 countries where it has physical stores.

Inditex sells brands including Pull&Bear, Massimo Dutti, Bershka, Stradivarius, Oysho and Uterque across its network of almost 7,500 physical shops. It operates online in 49 markets.

"We want to make our fashion collections available to all our customers, wherever they are in the world," Isla said, quoted in a statement. "Even in those markets which do not currently have our bricks-and-mortar stores."

Online sales jumped 41 percent in 2017 to reach 10 percent of group net sales, although this left it behind some rivals. Sweden's H&M makes close to 12 percent of sales online.

Inditex stock plunged more than 5 percent on the Madrid bourse last week after Morgan Stanley cut its recommendation to "underweight", citing sensitivity to currency movements and shifts in sales channels.

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