Dell's been on a bit of a buying spree recently; according to the head honcho, Michael Dell, they have a 'portfolio of acquisitions' that they're looking at to help boost earnings, but according to Bloomberg, this is unlikely to include the company Acer.
As you may be aware, Acer is the third largest maker of personal computers, so it would certainly be a valuable purchase, but Brian Gladden (Chief Financial Officer for Dell) says that, "It would be very low on our list of opportunities." It's expected that Acer may surpass Dell in shipments, but Gladden brushed it off by stating, "That doesn't bother me at all. Selling netbooks that have zero margin, I'm not excited about. We'd rather make more money than be the largest unit seller."
According to Bloomberg, "Dell will consider buying companies that help expand its PC, server, storage and services businesses, as well as technology providers that push it into new markets." So far, the most expensive purchase the company has made to date was for EqualLogic Inc., setting them back $1.4 billion. The company was a storage manufacturer, and now it accounts for about 60% of revenue. Apparently, however, Dell is currently looking at purchases that range from $200 million dollars up to $8 billion, and Gladden said they're after a "broad set of assets that wouldn't surprise anybody." It's also believed that they could be after software companies such as McAfee, Citrix Systems and Salesforce.com.
Regardless of what happens, don't expect to see headlines saying that Dell has purchased Acer any time soon.
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