Dell will buy data storage company EMC in a deal valued at about $67 billion, the largest on record in the technology sector.
The offer is $33.15 per share in cash and special stock.
Dell said it would pay $24.05 per share in cash and the rest in a special stock that tracks the value of a portion of EMC's economic interest in VMWare, the virtualisation software company majority-owned by EMC.
VMware will remain an independent, publicly traded company, the companies said in a joint statement today.
The purchase "will create the world's largest privately-controlled, integrated technology company," Dell said in a statement.
The company "will be a leader in the extremely attractive high-growth areas of the $2 trillion information technology market with complementary product portfolios, sales teams and R&D investment strategies," it added.
The new company "will be exceptionally well-positioned for growth in the most strategic areas of next generation IT including digital transformation, software-defined data center, converged infrastructure, hybrid cloud, mobile and security," Dell CEO Michael Dell said.
Michael Dell will be the combined company's chairman and chief executive officer, while EMC CEO Joe Tucci will continue in his position until the transaction closes.
In 2013, Mr Dell led a $24.9 billion buyout to take the company private as it attempts a transformation amid diminishing PC sales and the shift to mobile computing.
EMC's board has approved the merger agreement and intends to recommend that the company's stockholders approve the deal.
The deal will be financed through a combination of new equity from Michael Dell, MSD Partners, Silver Lake and Singapore state-owned investor Temasek Holdings as well as the issuance of the tracking stock, new debt and cash on hand.
EMC has an Irish workforce of over 3,000, most of which are based in Cork, while Dell employs over 2,300 people in Dublin, Cork and Limerick. VMware has more than 700 staff in Cork.
The deal is expected to close between May and October next year.
Dell's headquarters will stay in Round Rock, Texas, while the headquarters of the combined enterprise systems business will be in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, where EMC is based.
