EMC ups Q4 target on acquisition optimism

Documentum in hand

By Ashlee Vance in Chicago • Get more from this author

Posted in Storage, 10th December 2003 16:39 GMT

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EMC has raised the bar for its fourth quarter revenue targets and set a date for its completion of the Documentum acquisition.

The big daddy of storage now expects revenue for the period to come in between $1.8 billion to $1.825 billion. When it reported third quarter results back in Oct., EMC forecasted revenue for the fourth quarter to be between $1.74 billion and $1.78 billion.

The company, however, became more optimistic about the quarter as it sees a near-term revenue gain from Documentum and favorable "current market conditions". If Documentum shareholders give the deal the go ahead, EMC expects to close the sale by Dec. 18. This would add between $30 million to $35 million to EMC's revenues.

EMC announced its intentions to buy Documentum in October a couple days ahead of the third quarter earnings announcement. At the time, EMC expected to pay close to $1.7 billion to nab the software maker.

The Documentum purchase is one in a long list of software buys EMC has conducted over the last year, as the company looks to build up a better balance between code, hardware and services revenue. ®

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