Dell Technologies sells data company Boomi for $4B

Dell Technologies is selling Boomi, a data integration company, for about $4 billion. The proceeds should help Dell reduce its debt, which has been a focus of the company lately.

Boomi is being purchased by the investment firm Francisco Partners along with the private equity firm TPG Capital. The sale is expected to close by the end of 2021.

More than 15,000 customers use Boomi’s cloud-native software to manage data. Boomi’s platform, AtomSphere, allows companies to share data between their various backend platforms where the data would otherwise be locked in separate silos.

"Boomi has flourished as part of Dell Technologies, growing exponentially since we acquired them in 2010,” said Jeff Clarke, chief operating officer of Dell Technologies, in a statement. “This proposed transaction positions Boomi for its next phase of growth and is the right move for both companies, our shared customers and partners.” 

Clarke said Dell Technologies is focused on its primary businesses of core infrastructure, cloud and edge as well as its PC business. Dell is dealing with about $40 billion in debt. Last month it announced it was spinning off VMware, which will net it about $9.5 billion. 

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Dipanjan Deb, CEO of Francisco Partners and Brian Decker, a partner at Francisco Partners, issued a statement saying, “The ability to integrate and connect data and workflows across any combination of applications or domains is a critical business capability, and we strongly believe that Boomi is well positioned to help companies of all sizes turn data into their most valuable asset.”

Private equity firms such as Francisco Partners improve processes and functions at companies to reduce costs and improve margins, and then they usually sell them for a profit.