NEW YORK — Dell will spend $3.9 billion for the technology-services company Perot Systems in an attempt to expand beyond the PC business and compete more aggressively with Hewlett- Packard — which recently bought another tech-services company founded by H. Ross Perot.
Dell said Monday it will offer $30 per share in cash for Perot Systems — a 68 percent premium over its closing price Friday. Perot Systems’ shares rose $11.65, or 65 percent, to close at $29.56 Monday. Dell shares fell 68 cents, or 4.1 percent, to $16.01.
Perot, a 79-year-old former presidential candidate, is chairman emeritus of Perot Systems, which he founded in 1988. According to an April regulatory filing, Perot and related trusts controlled at least 25 percent of the company’s stock, though the beneficiary of those shares was not clear. The company did not respond to a request for comment on Perot’s stake.
Perot already had made a fortune from founding Electronic Data Systems in 1962 and selling it to General Motors in a 1984 deal worth $2.5 billion.
In a conference call with analysts, Dell founder and chief executive Michael Dell said Perot Systems will serve as an “anchor” acquisition for a global information-technology-services business.
Plano, Texas-based Perot Systems would bring Dell more than 1,000 customers, including the U.S. military and the Department of Homeland Security. About 48 percent of Perot Systems’ revenue comes from the health care industry and 25 percent from government. Last year, Perot Systems earned $117 million on sales of $2.8 billion.
