Dell is reportedly finalizing the sale of its IT consulting unit to NTT Data for $3.5 billion. According to Reuters, the deal, which will help Dell pay down debt from its $67 billion acquisition of EMC Corp., may officially be announced today.
If the sale goes through, it will help NTT Data, a subsidiary of Japan’s NTT, grow its business in the United States. Like SoftBank, another Japanese telecom giant, NTT has expanded internationally through a series of acquisitions and investments, most notably in the U.S. and India.
Dell’s current IT services unit was created in 2009 when it acquired Perot Systems for $3.9 billion. This is slightly less than the price it is now asking from NTT Data, but according to Reuters, that is because some of its operations will not be included in the sale.
Dell is also looking to offload two of its other businesses, Quest Software and SonicWall, for a total of $4 billion. Its debt from the EMC Corp. deal, which is awaiting approval from EMC shareholders, is $43 billion.