This a solid analysis and will be a very interesting piece to refer back to in five years. It sketches out the extreme machinations these huge companies need to

This a solid analysis and will be a very interesting piece to refer back to in five years. It sketches out the extreme machinations these huge companies need to go through to get their deals structures, and I for one am very curious about the end-game that Dell has in mind. A couple points stuck out to me; one the comment that Dell's capital cost will be lower in part because they aggressively paid down the debt from going private a few years ago. That has to be one of the most valuable reputations in the world -- probably saved over a billion dollars on this deal, just from having good credit. Yow! The other that's interesting perspective is noting that EMC alone could pay the debt burden here with what it's been spending on share buybacks. It's also interesting that we have massive moves from industry participants going both directions right now: HP splitting, and EMC/Dell merging, both looking to unlock extra value. Something in me tends to not trust the 'break em up' push from activists; I guess I tend to believe synergies are real things. At some level, maybe activists don't disagree, but think they encourage bad or lazy behavior, and break-ups force harder thinking and focus from management teams that are fat and happy. If that's true, my bet would be on Dell turning this into something good; Michael seems very motivated to me from watching his moves over the last few years.