Dell reportedly looking to unload its cloud unit

Hot on the heels of its pending spin-off of VMware, Dell is now reportedly looking to sell off its Boomi cloud business for $3 billion. Bloomberg first broke the news, citing people familiar with the matter.

Dell is working with a financial adviser on the sale, sources told Bloomberg, and the idea is said to be in the early stages. One thing about Dell, it does not rush these decisions. The VMware spin-off, which has been discussed for years, started last summer and only now is coming to fruition.

Boomi provides an integration platform as a service (iPaaS), which enables the connection of applications and data sources. The platform provides API, lifecycle management, and event-driven architecture features for cloud integration. Dell acquired Boomi in 2010.

Dell has remained fluid in the status of its assets. Last year, Dell sold its RSA cybersecurity business to a consortium led by Symphony Technology Group for more than $2 billion in cash. The VMware spin-out could net Dell $9 billion.

It’s the latest in a fire sale as CEO Michael Dell tries to pare down debt. He went through great pains to take Dell private in 2013, but two years later he leveraged the daylights out of the company for its $67 billion acquisition of EMC.

It formed a tech giant and brought VMware into the fold, but it also saddled Dell with debt. so much so that five years after going private, Dell went public again in 2018, and not by choice. It was basically a shotgun wedding to pay off debt. As of January 31, Dell is sitting on $43 billion in long term debt, which is crippling for any company.