All in the family: Dell acquires MessageOne; broadens SaaS reach

Dell said Tuesday that it has acquired email as a service provider MessageOne for $155 million in a move that broadens the company's software offerings. MessageOne was co-founded by Michael Dell's brother Adam.

MessageOne offers software as a service (SaaS) email services along with compliance, archiving and disaster recovery options.

Dell said the acquisition adds to its SaaS lineup and will be plugged into the company's automated services lineup. MessageOne will be lumped into Dell's ProSupport lineup of services. ProSupport, announced last week, is a service where customers can pick and choose that level of support needed based on their technical prowess.

To avoid the obvious potential conflict of interest Dell said that Michael Dell was excluded from negotiations. MessageOne was also owned by two investment funds--Impact Venture Partners and Impact Entrepreneurs Fund--that were managed by the Dell family. The acquisition was negotiated by Dell's independent board members with Morgan Stanley assisting with an opinion.

When the deal is closed, Adam Dell will pocket $970,000 with Michael Dell, Susan Dell and their children's trust getting $12 million. Dell's parents will get $450,000. The $12 million that Michael Dell's immediate family pulled in will be donated to charity.