By Don Clark
EMC Corp. is ending a three-year foray into the kinds of
data-storage services offered by Dropbox Inc. and Box Inc.,
agreeing to sell control of its Syncplicity business to the
investment firm Skyview Capital LLC.
Financial terms of the transactions weren't disclosed. EMC would
retain an unspecified ownership stake in Syncplicity, which helps
companies sync and share data files both on-premises and in remote
facilities, and would continue to help sell its offerings.
EMC, which is best known for selling hardware for storing
corporate data, bought Syncplicity in 2012 for terms that weren't
disclosed. The startup was founded in 2008.
Skyvew Capital, based in Los Angeles, specializes in helping to
convert corporate units into separate businesses. One of the firm's
executives, Jonathan Huberman, will become chief executive of
Syncplicity.
EMC, Hopkinton, Mass., has been struggling with weak demand for
some of its older storage hardware. Activist shareholder Elliott
Management Corp. last year took a large stake in the company and
began pushing for changes such as spinning off EMC's majority stake
in software maker VMware Inc. No related actions are expected until
at least September under a standstill agreement the parties
announced in January.
An EMC spokesman said Syncplicity had achieved momentum but
required investments in new features to keep up with the trend
toward mobile workers. "This is a step away from EMC's core
infrastructure strength," he said, in prepared remarks.
Write to Don Clark at don.clark@wsj.com
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