Dell is becoming a public company again after 5 years

Dell Technologies is going public again after a five-year stint as a privately held company.

The US-based PC and data storage company announced a $21.7 billion agreement on Monday to buy out the holders of shares that track the performance of VMware using a mix of cash and equity in Dell.

Dell said it will propose to exchange each share of VMware tracking stock for 1.3665 shares of Dell Technologies Class C common stock, or at the holder's election, $109 in cash, subject to the total amount of cash consideration not above $9 billion.

Dell said it will offer a new class of publicly listed common stock on the New York Stock Exchange following completion of the deal.

The cash component of the offer will be financed by a one-time $11 billion special dividend that VMware will pay out pro-rata to its shareholders, VMware said.

After the deal, VMware shareholders would own between 20.8% to 31% of Dell depending on how many investors opt for cash, Dell said.

The move marks the end of a strategic review that Dell has been conducting for several months as it has sought to consolidate its complicated ownership structure without overburdening its balance sheet, which bears around $50 billion in debt.

Dell founder Michael Dell and investment firm Silver Lake had taken Dell Technologies private in 2013, seeking a freer range of movement that comes with more distance from Wall Street and investors.

Dell, like all PC makers, was hit hard as people shifted from laptops, to tablets and other mobile devices. While private, Dell strengthened its financial position, posting a 19% revenue growth in its most recent quarter. It's still losing money, half a billion in that same period, but those losses are shrinking.

When going private, Michael Dell said the company was returning to the "entrepreneurial spirit" on which it was founded.

"Unprecedented data growth is fueling the digital era of IT, and we are uniquely positioned with our portfolio of technologies and services to enable the digital, IT, security and workforce transformations of our customers," Dell said in a prepared statement on Monday.

Michael Dell, which owns 72% of the company's common shares, will remain as chairman and CEO. Silver Lake will keep its 24% minority stake.

Earlier this year, Dell Technologies said it was undergoing a significant strategic review and might enter the public markets again, while potentially buying the rest of business software provider VMware that it didn't already own.

Dell in its early years focused on commercial clients, but that changed in the late 1990s when it garnered a huge following among techies who desired more options in customizing PCs.

Soon, the Round Rock, Texas-based company was slugging it out with Gateway, IBM and Compaq, eventually becoming the largest PC maker in the world while its rivals faltered. "Dude, you're getting a Dell," the company's marketing campaign, blanketed U.S airwaves in 2000.

By the end of the decade, however, Dell was losing market share to competitors in Asia and it was under threat from Google's Android devices, and the Apple iPad.

Dell has since shifted into networking and pursued avenues into artificial intelligence and 5G technology.