I think taking this private at $1.20 is a very remote...

I think taking this private at $1.20 is a very remote possibility. It will not happen. Think about this. Ron's cost is $1.50 if you read the merger prospectus. To go through all this trouble and privatise after 5 years or even 10 years as a public company is a major regression IMO.

Billionaires have high aspirations to build billion dollar businesses (that was how they became billionaire in the first place). One way to grow billion dollar businesses is to grow via acquisitions like what Suez did (remember they bought GE Water).

To grow by acquisitions, they need the currency that a public listing affords to make acquisitions. That means, they need the share price to make acquisitions. The higher the share price, the fewer shares they need to issue to make the acquisition. Therefore, they need an ever appreciating share price to grow.

To privatise themselves now, after all that trouble to merge with a public listco like EMC would close themselves off from the avenue to grow by acquisitions. It really helps to think like a billionaire to understand what Ron's aspirations are. Regards.