Problem
According to the Wall Street Journal, merger and acquisition activity in the first quarter rose to $5.3 billion. Approximately three-fourths of the 78 first-quarter deals occurred between information technology (IT) companies. The largest IT transaction of the quarter was EMC's $625 million acquisition of VMWare. The VMWare acquisition broadened EMC's core data storage device business to include software technology enabling multiple operating systems - such as Microsoft's Windows, Linux, and OS X - to simultaneously and independently run on the same Intel-based server or workstation. Suppose that at the time of the acquisition a weak economy led many analysts to project that VMWare's profits would grow at a constant rate of 2 percent for the foreseeable future, and that the company's annual net income was $39.60 million. If EMC's estimated opportunity cost of funds is 9 percent, as an analyst, how would you view the acquisition? Explain.