Elliott Management Urges EMC to Spin Off VMware

By Tess Stynes 

Hedge-fund manager Elliott Management Corp. said it sent a letter to the board of EMC Corp. urging the data-storage company to spin off its VMware Inc. unit as well as pursue other merger-and-acquistion opportunities.

An EMC spokesman couldn't immediately be reached to comment.

The activist investor has a 2.2% stake in EMC, making it one of the company's largest shareholders. In the letter dated Wednesday, Elliott is critical of EMC's so-called federation structure, under which the company's VMware, Pivotal, RSA and EMC II--which mostly comprises the storage company--are run as independent companies.

The activist investor asserts that the structure is only viable under the leadership of its current chief executive, Joe Tucci. Mr. Tucci, has indicated he will step down by early next year and has yet to announce a successor.

Elliott maintains the structure, while it may have served EMC well in the past, no longer does and has contributed to the stock's underperformance.

Elliott also argues that under the current structure, EMC II and VMware can't benefit enough from the combined businesses, or eliminate confusion among customers, employees and investors.

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