Seagate moves between public and private worlds

 

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With its announcement that it intends to go private, Seagate shows that in some cases, being a public company can have its problems. Whether others will follow Seagate's move is unclear, but the company's complex deal should spark debate over the benefits and pitfalls of being public.

Will Seagate's privatization start a trend? The company's decision to become a privately held entity defies the crush of initial public offerings in recent years and could lead other companies to reconsider their public status. Deal reflects storage industry's idiosyncrasies The convoluted business deal that will turn the hard disk maker into a private company again is just another chapter in the bizarre history of the hard disk business. Seagate acquired in $20 billion deal Seagate Technology, the company that helped create the disk drive business, announces it will be bought by Veritas Software and an investment group in a complex $20 billion deal. Previous coverage Seagate profit falls on sales woes The largest independent computer disk-drive maker says fiscal second-quarter profit fell 71 percent as steep price competition caused sales to decline. Former Seagate CEO joins investment trend Al Shugart, founder and former chief executive of Seagate Technologies, promotes his new firm dedicated to capital investing.