Form S-8
Table of Contents

As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on August 13, 2007

Registration No. 333-            


SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 


FORM S-8

REGISTRATION STATEMENT

Under

The Securities Act of 1933

 


VMWARE, INC.

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)

 


 

DELAWARE   94-3292913

(State or Other Jurisdiction of

Incorporation or Organization)

 

(I.R.S. Employer

Identification No.)

3401 Hillview Avenue

Palo Alto, CA 94304

(Address, Including Zip Code, of Registrant’s Principal Executive Offices)

 


VMware, Inc. 2007 Equity and Incentive Plan

VMware, Inc. 2007 Employee Stock Purchase Plan

(Full Title of the Plan)

 


Rashmi Garde

Vice President and General Counsel

VMware, Inc.

3401 Hillview Avenue

Palo Alto, CA 94304

(650) 427-5000

(Name, Address and Telephone Number, Including Area Code, of Agent For Service)

 


Copies to:

Margaret A. Brown

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

One Beacon Street

Boston, Massachusetts 02108

(617) 573-4818

 


CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE


Title of Securities

To Be Registered

   Amount To Be
Registered (1)
    Proposed Maximum
Offering Price
Per Share
    Proposed Maximum
Aggregate
Offering Price
   Amount Of
Registration Fee

Class A common stock, par value $0.01 per share

                           

—Outstanding under the 2007 Equity and Incentive Plan (options)

   36,045,151     $ 23.02 (2)   $ 829,759,376.02   

$

25,473.61

—Outstanding under the 2007 Equity and Incentive Plan (restricted stock units)

   537,676 (3)   $ 29.00 (4)   $ 15,592,604.00    $ 478.69

—Issued under the 2007 Equity and Incentive Plan

   120,000 (5)  

$

29.00

(4)

  $ 3,480,000.00    $ 106.84

—To be issued under the 2007 Equity and Incentive Plan

   43,297,173    

$

29.00

(4)

  $ 1,255,618,017.00    $ 38,547.47

—To be issued under the 2007 Employee Stock Purchase Plan

   6,400,000    

$

29.00

(4)

  $ 185,600,000.00    $ 5,697.92

Total

   86,400,000          $ 70,304.53

(1) Pursuant to Rule 416(a) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, this Registration Statement shall also cover any additional shares of the Registrant’s Class A common stock that become issuable under the 2007 Equity and Incentive Plan or 2007 Employee Stock Purchase Plan by reason of any stock dividend, stock split, recapitalization or other similar transaction effected without receipt of consideration that increases the number of the Registrant’s outstanding shares of Class A common stock. In addition, pursuant to Rule 416(c) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, this Registration Statement also covers an indeterminate amount of interests to be offered or sold pursuant to the employee benefits plans described herein.
(2) Estimated in accordance with Rule 457(h) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, solely for the purpose of calculating the registration fee. The price of $23.02 per share represents the weighted average exercise price for outstanding options.
(3) Consists of restricted stock units previously granted under the 2007 Equity and Incentive Equity Plan, whose resale by the recipients thereof is also being registered under this registration statement.
(4) Estimated solely for the purpose of calculating the registration fee pursuant to Rule 457(a) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.
(5) Consists of shares of restricted Class A common stock previously granted upon exercise of options pursuant to the 2007 Equity and Incentive Equity Plan, whose resale by the recipients thereof is also being registered under this registration statement.

 



Table of Contents

EXPLANATORY NOTE

VMware, Inc. (“VMware” or the “Company”) has prepared this Registration Statement in accordance with the requirements of Form S-8 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), to register the issuance and sale of (i) 80,000,000 shares of our Class A common stock, par value $0.01 per share, which we refer to as Class A common stock, that are reserved for issuance in respect of grants made or upon exercise of options granted, or in respect of awards to be granted, under the VMware, Inc. 2007 Equity and Incentive Plan (the “Equity Plan”) and (ii) 6,400,000 shares of our Class A common stock reserved for issuance in respect of purchases under the VMware, Inc. 2007 Employee Stock Purchase Plan (the “ESPP”).

This Registration Statement also includes a prospectus (the “Reoffer Prospectus”) prepared in accordance with General Instruction C of Form S-8 and in accordance with the requirements of Part I of Form S-3. The Reoffer Prospectus may be used for reofferings and resales on a continuous or delayed basis in the future by our stockholders of an aggregate of 657,676 shares of Class A common stock that constitute “restricted securities” or “control securities” within the meaning of Form S-8, including 537,676 shares issuable in respect of grants of restricted stock units previously made under the Equity Plan and 120,000 shares of restricted Class A common stock previously issued upon the exercise of options granted under the Equity Plan.

PART I

INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE SECTION 10(a) PROSPECTUS

The documents constituting Part I of this Registration Statement have been or will be sent or given by VMware to participants in the Equity Plan and the ESPP, as specified by Rule 428(b)(1) under the Securities Act. The Part I Information is not filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) either as part of this Registration Statement or as prospectuses or prospectus supplements pursuant to the note to Part I of Form S-8.

Upon written or oral request, the Company will provide, without charge, the documents incorporated by reference in Item 3 of Part II of this Registration Statement. The documents are incorporated by reference in the Section 10(a) prospectus. The Company will also provide, without charge, upon written or oral request, other documents required to be delivered to employees pursuant to Rule 428(b) under the Securities Act. Requests for the above-mentioned information should be directed to Rashmi Garde, Esq., the Company’s Vice President and General Counsel, at the address and telephone number on the cover of this Registration Statement.

NOTE: The Reoffer Prospectus referred to in the Explanatory Note follows this page.


Table of Contents

VMWARE, INC.

657,676 SHARES

OF

CLASS A COMMON STOCK

 


PROSPECTUS

 


August 13, 2007

This prospectus is being used for the offering and sale from time to time by the selling stockholders identified in this prospectus (the “Selling Stockholders”) of up to an aggregate of 657,676 shares (the “Shares”) of Class A common stock, par value $0.01 per share, of VMware, Inc. The Shares offered by this prospectus consist of shares that constitute “restricted securities” or “control securities” within the meaning of Form S-8, including 537,676 shares issuable in respect of grants of restricted stock units previously made under the 2007 Equity and Incentive Plan and 120,000 shares of restricted Class A common stock previously issued upon the exercise of options granted under the 2007 Equity and Incentive Plan.

The Selling Stockholders, or their pledgees, donees, transferees or other successors-in-interest, may offer the Shares through public or private transactions, at prevailing market prices or at privately negotiated prices, including in satisfaction of certain existing contractual obligations. The Selling Stockholders will receive all of the net proceeds from the sale of the shares. We will bear the costs, expenses and fees in connection with the registration of the shares offered hereby. We will not receive any proceeds from the sale of the shares. Brokerage commissions and similar selling expenses, if any, attributable to the sale of shares will be borne by the Selling Stockholders.

The Class A common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “VMW.” The initial public offering price of VMware’s Class A common stock is expected to be between $27.00 and $29.00 per share.

 


INVESTING IN THE CLASS A COMMON STOCK INVOLVES SIGNIFICANT RISKS. FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE SEE “ RISK FACTORS” BEGINNING ON PAGE 6.

 


The Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) may take the view that, under certain circumstances, the Selling Stockholders and any broker-dealers or agents that participate with the Selling Stockholders in the distribution of the Shares may be deemed to be “underwriters” within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). Commissions, discounts or concessions received by any such broker-dealer or agent may be deemed to be underwriting commissions under the Securities Act. See “Plan of Distribution.”

 


NEITHER THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION NOR ANY STATE SECURITIES COMMISSION HAS APPROVED OR DISAPPROVED OF THESE SECURITIES OR DETERMINED WHETHER THIS PROSPECTUS IS TRUTHFUL OR COMPLETE. ANY REPRESENTATION TO THE CONTRARY IS A CRIMINAL OFFENSE.

The date of this prospectus is August 13, 2007

 

1


Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

AVAILABLE INFORMATION    2
INCORPORATED DOCUMENTS    2
THE COMPANY    4
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS    5
RISK FACTORS    6
SELLING STOCKHOLDERS    20
PLAN OF DISTRIBUTION    21
LEGAL MATTERS    22
EXPERTS    22

AVAILABLE INFORMATION

We are subject to the informational reporting requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) and file reports, proxy statements and other information with the Commission. These reports, proxy statements and other information can be inspected and copied at the Public Reference Room of the Commission, 100 F Street, NE, Washington, D.C. 20549. The Commission maintains a website that contains reports, proxy and information statements and other information regarding registrants, including us, that file electronically with the Commission. The address of this website is www.sec.gov. In addition, you may obtain information on the operation of the Public Reference Room by calling the Commission at 1-800-SEC-0330.

A copy of any document incorporated by reference in the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part but which is not delivered with this prospectus will be provided by us without charge to any person to whom this prospectus has been delivered upon the oral or written request of that person. Requests should be directed to the attention of the General Counsel, VMware, Inc., 3401 Hillview Avenue, Palo Alto, California 94304. Our telephone number at that location is (650) 427-5000.

You should rely on the information incorporated by reference or provided in this prospectus. We have not authorized anyone else to provide you with different information. The Shares are not being offered in any state where the offer is not permitted. You should not assume that the information in this prospectus is accurate as of any date other than the date on the front of this prospectus.

INCORPORATED DOCUMENTS

The Commission allows us to “incorporate by reference” information into this prospectus, which means that we can disclose important information to you by referring you to another document filed separately with the Commission. The information incorporated by reference is deemed to be part of this prospectus, except for any information superseded by information in this prospectus.

The following documents filed with the Commission are incorporated by reference in this prospectus:

1. The Company’s Prospectus included in Amendment No. 6 to the Registration Statement on Form S-1, filed with the Commission on August 9, 2007 and declared effective by the Commission on August 13, 2007, and the Company’s Prospectus to be filed by August 15, 2007 pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended; and

 

2


Table of Contents

2. The description of the Class A common stock contained in the Company’s Registration Statement on Form 8-A, filed on July 27, 2007 pursuant to the Exchange Act, including any amendments or reports filed for the purpose of updating such description.

All documents subsequently filed by the Company pursuant to Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 and 15(d) of the Exchange Act prior to the filing of a post-effective amendment which indicates that all securities offered have been sold or which deregisters all securities then remaining unsold, shall be deemed to be incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement and to be a part hereof from the date of filing of such documents. Statements contained in this prospectus or in a document incorporated by reference may be modified or superseded by later statements in this prospectus or by statements in subsequent documents incorporated by reference, in which case you should refer to the later statement.

 

3


Table of Contents

THE COMPANY

Except as the context otherwise requires, references in this prospectus to “we,” “our,” “us,” “VMware” and the “Company” are to VMware, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries.

Our Business

We are the leading provider of virtualization solutions. Our virtualization solutions represent a pioneering approach to computing that separates the operating system and application software from the underlying hardware to achieve significant improvements in efficiency, availability, flexibility and manageability. Our solutions enable organizations to aggregate multiple servers, storage infrastructure and networks together into shared pools of capacity that can be allocated dynamically, securely and reliably to applications as needed, increasing hardware utilization and reducing spending. Our customer base includes 100% of the Fortune 100 and over 84% of the Fortune 1,000. Our customer base for our server solutions has grown to include 20,000 organizations of all sizes across numerous industries. We believe our solutions deliver significant economic value for customers, and many have adopted our solutions as the strategic and architectural foundation for their future computing initiatives.

In the eight years since the introduction of our first virtualization platform, we have expanded our offering with virtual infrastructure automation and management products to address distributed and heterogeneous infrastructure challenges such as system recoverability and reliability, backup and recovery, resource provisioning and management, capacity and performance management and desktop security. Our broad and proven suite of virtualization solutions addresses a range of complex IT problems that include infrastructure optimization, business continuity, software lifecycle management and desktop management.

We work closely with over 200 technology partners, including leading server, processor, storage, networking and software vendors. We have shared the economic opportunities surrounding virtualization with our partners by facilitating solution development through open application programming interfaces (APIs), formats and protocols and providing access to our source code and technology. The endorsement and support of our partners have further enhanced the awareness, reputation and adoption of our virtualization solutions.

We have developed a multi-channel distribution model to expand our presence and reach various segments of the market. We derive a significant majority of our revenues from our large indirect sales channel of more than 4,000 channel partners that include distributors, resellers, x86 system vendors and systems integrators. We believe that our partners benefit greatly from the sale of our solutions through additional services, software and hardware sales opportunities. We have trained a large number of partners and end users to deploy and leverage our solutions.

Our Relationship with EMC Corporation

We were acquired by EMC Corporation, or EMC, in January 2004, and prior to our initial public offering (the “IPO”) of shares of Class A common stock we were operated as a wholly owned subsidiary of EMC. As a result, in the ordinary course of our business, we receive various services provided by EMC, including tax, accounting, treasury, legal and human resources services. EMC also provides us with the services of a number of its executives and employees.

Immediately following the IPO and subject to the closing of our sale of 9.5 million shares of Class A common stock to Intel Capital Corporation, or Intel Capital, the global investment arm of Intel Corporation, and the sale of 6.0 million shares of Class A common stock by EMC to Cisco Systems, Inc., or Cisco, EMC will hold approximately 35% of our Class A common stock and 100% of our Class B common stock, representing approximately 87% of our outstanding common stock and 98% of the combined voting power of our outstanding common stock. As a result, EMC controls us, and is able to exercise control over all matters requiring stockholder approval, including the election of our directors and approval of significant corporate transactions.

 

4


Table of Contents

Corporate Facts

We were incorporated in Delaware in 1998. Our headquarters are located at 3401 Hillview Avenue, Palo Alto, California 94304 and our phone number is (650) 427-5000. Our website is www.vmware.com. Information contained on, or that can be accessed through, our website does not constitute part of this prospectus.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Some of the statements in this prospectus may contain forward-looking statements that reflect our current views with respect to, among other things, future events and financial performance. You can identify these forward-looking statements by the use of forward-looking words, such as “outlook,” “believes,” “expects,” “potential,” “continues,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “seeks,” “approximately,” “predicts,” “intends,” “plans,” “estimates,” “anticipates” or the negative version of those words or other comparable words. Any forward-looking statements contained in this prospectus are based upon our historical performance and on current plans, estimates and expectations. The inclusion of this forward-looking information should not be regarded as a representation by us, the Selling Stockholders or any other person that the future plans, estimates or expectations contemplated by us will be achieved. Such forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties. Accordingly, there are or will be important factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those indicated in these statements. We believe that these factors include but are not limited to those described under “Risk Factors.” These factors should not be construed as exhaustive and should be read in conjunction with the other cautionary statements that are included in this prospectus. We do not undertake any obligation to publicly update or review any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.

If one or more of these or other risks or uncertainties materialize, or if our underlying assumptions prove to be incorrect, actual results may vary materially from what we may have anticipated. Any forward-looking statements you read in this prospectus reflect our current views with respect to future events and are subject to these and other risks, uncertainties and assumptions relating to our operations, results of operations, financial condition, growth strategy and liquidity. You should specifically consider the factors identified in this prospectus that could cause our actual results to differ before making an investment decision.

 

5


Table of Contents

RISK FACTORS

You should carefully consider the risks described below before making a decision to buy our Class A common stock. If any of the following risks actually occur, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be harmed. In that case, the trading price of our Class A common stock could decline and you might lose all or part of your investment in our Class A common stock.

Risks Related to Our Business

The virtualization products and services we sell are based on an emerging technology and therefore the potential market for our products remains uncertain.

The virtualization products and services we develop and sell are based on an emerging technology platform and our success depends on organizations and customers perceiving technological and operational benefits and cost savings associated with adopting virtualization solutions. Our relatively limited operating history and the relatively limited extent to which virtualization solutions have been currently adopted may make it difficult to evaluate our business because the potential market for our products remains uncertain. To the extent that the virtualization market develops more slowly or less comprehensively than we expect, our revenue growth rates may slow materially or our revenue may decline substantially.

We expect to face increasing competition that could result in a loss of customers, reduced revenues or decreased profit margins.

The market for our products is competitive and we expect competition to significantly intensify in the future. For example, Microsoft currently provides products that compete with some of our entry-level offerings and has announced its intention to provide products that will compete with some of our enterprise-class products in the future. We also face competition from other companies, including several recent market entrants. Existing and future competitors may introduce products in the same markets we serve or intend to serve, and competing products may have better performance, lower prices, better functionality and broader acceptance than our products. Many of our current or potential competitors also have longer operating histories, greater name recognition, larger customer bases and significantly greater financial, technical, sales, marketing and other resources than we do. This competition could result in increased pricing pressure and sales and marketing expenses, thereby materially reducing our profit margins, and could harm our ability to increase, or cause us to lose, market share. Increased competition also may prevent us from entering into or renewing service contracts on terms similar to those that we currently offer.

Some of our competitors and potential competitors supply a wide variety of products to, and have well-established relationships with, our current and prospective end users. Some of these competitors have in the past and may in the future take advantage of their existing relationships to engage in business practices that make our products less attractive to our end users. For example, Microsoft has recently implemented distribution arrangements with x86 system vendors and independent software vendors, or ISVs, related to certain of their operating systems that only permit the use of Microsoft’s virtualization format and do not allow the use of our corresponding format. Microsoft has also recently implemented pricing policies that require customers to pay additional license fees based on certain uses of virtualization technology. These distribution and licensing restrictions, as well as other business practices that may be adopted in the future by our competitors, could materially impact our prospects regardless of the merits of our products. In addition, competitors with existing relationships with our current or prospective end users could in the future integrate competitive capabilities into their existing products and make them available without additional charge.

We also face potential competition from our partners. For example, third parties currently selling our products could build and market their own competing products and services or market competing products and services of third parties. If we are unable to compete effectively, our growth and our ability to sell products at profitable margins could be materially and adversely affected.

Industry alliances or consolidation may result in increased competition.

Some of our competitors have made acquisitions or entered into partnerships or other strategic relationships with one another to offer a more comprehensive virtualization solution than they individually had offered. We expect these trends to continue as

 

6


Table of Contents

companies attempt to strengthen or maintain their market positions in the evolving virtualization infrastructure industry. Many of the companies driving this trend have significantly greater financial, technical and other resources than we do and may be better positioned to acquire and offer complementary products and technologies. The companies resulting from these possible combinations may create more compelling product offerings and be able to offer greater pricing flexibility than we can or may engage in business practices that make it more difficult for us to compete effectively, including on the basis of price, sales and marketing programs, technology or product functionality. These pressures could result in a substantial loss of customers or a reduction in our revenues.

Our operating results may fluctuate significantly, which makes our future results difficult to predict and may result in our operating results falling below expectations or our guidance, which could cause the price of our Class A common stock to decline.

Our operating results may fluctuate due to a variety of factors, many of which are outside of our control. As a result, comparing our operating results on a period-to-period basis may not be meaningful. You should not rely on our past results as an indication of our future performance. In addition, a significant portion of our quarterly sales typically occurs during the last month of the quarter, which we believe generally reflects customer buying patterns for enterprise technology. As a result, our quarterly operating results are difficult to predict even in the near term. If our revenue or operating results fall below the expectations of investors or securities analysts or below any guidance we may provide to the market, the price of our common stock would likely decline substantially.

In addition, factors that may affect our operating results include, among others:

 

   

fluctuations in demand, adoption, sales cycles and pricing levels for our products and services;

 

   

changes in customers’ budgets for information technology purchases and in the timing of their purchasing decisions;

 

   

the timing of recognizing revenue in any given quarter as a result of software revenue recognition policies;

 

   

the sale of our products in the timeframes we anticipate, including the number and size of orders in each quarter;

 

   

our ability to develop, introduce and ship in a timely manner new products and product enhancements that meet customer demand, certification requirements and technical requirements;

 

   

the timing of the announcement or release of products or upgrades by us or by our competitors;

 

   

our ability to implement scalable internal systems for reporting, order processing, license fulfillment, product delivery, purchasing, billing and general accounting, among other functions;

 

   

our ability to control costs, including our operating expenses;

 

   

our ability to attract and retain highly skilled employees, particularly those with relevant experience in software development and sales; and

 

   

general economic conditions in our domestic and international markets.

 

7


Table of Contents

If operating system and hardware vendors do not cooperate with us or we are unable to obtain early access to their new products, or access to certain information about their new products to ensure that our solutions interoperate with those products, our product development efforts may be delayed or foreclosed.

Our products interoperate with Windows, Linux and other operating systems and the hardware devices of numerous manufacturers. Developing products that interoperate properly requires substantial partnering, capital investment and employee resources, as well as the cooperation of the vendors or developers of the operating systems and hardware. Operating system and hardware vendors may not provide us with early access to their technology and products, assist us in these development efforts or share with or sell to us any APIs, formats, or protocols we may need. If they do not provide us with the necessary early access, assistance or proprietary technology on a timely basis, we may experience product development delays or be unable to expand our products into other areas. To the extent that software or hardware vendors develop products that compete with ours or those of EMC, they may have an incentive to withhold their cooperation, decline to share access or sell to us their proprietary APIs, protocols or formats or engage in practices to actively limit the functionality, or compatibility, and certification of our products. In addition, hardware or operating system vendors may fail to certify or support or continue to certify or support, our products for their systems. If any of the foregoing occurs, our product development efforts may be delayed or foreclosed and our business and results of operations may be adversely affected.

We rely on distributors, resellers, x86 system vendors and systems integrators to sell our products, and our failure to effectively develop, manage or prevent disruptions to our distribution channels and the processes and procedures that support them could cause a reduction in the number of end users of our products.

Our future success is highly dependent upon maintaining and increasing the number of our relationships with distributors, resellers, x86 system vendors and systems integrators. By relying on distributors, resellers, x86 system vendors and systems integrators, we may have little or no contact with the ultimate users of our products, thereby making it more difficult for us to establish brand awareness, ensure proper delivery and installation of our products, service ongoing customer requirements, estimate end user demand and respond to evolving customer needs.

Recruiting and retaining qualified channel partners and training them in the use of our technology and product offerings requires significant time and resources. In order to develop and expand our distribution channel, we must continue to expand and improve our processes and procedures that support our channel, including our investment in systems and training, and those processes and procedures may become increasingly complex and difficult to manage. We generally do not have long-term contracts or minimum purchase commitments with our distributors, resellers, x86 system vendors and systems integrators, and our contracts with these channel partners do not prohibit them from offering products or services that compete with ours. Our competitors may be effective in providing incentives to existing and potential channel partners to favor products of our competitors or to prevent or reduce sales of our products. Our channel partners and x86 system vendors may choose not to offer our products exclusively or at all. Our failure to maintain and increase the number of relationships with channel partners would likely lead to a loss of end users of our products which would result in us receiving lower revenues from our channel partners. One of the Company’s distribution agreements is with Ingram Micro, which accounted for 29% of our revenues in 2006. The agreement with Ingram Micro under which the Company receives the substantial majority of its Ingram Micro revenues is terminable by either party upon 90 days’ prior written notice to the other party, and neither party has any obligation to purchase or sell any products under the agreement. The terms of this agreement between Ingram Micro and us are substantially similar to the terms of the agreements we have with other distributors, except for certain differences in shipment and payment terms, indemnification obligations and product return rights. While we believe that we have in place, or would have in place by the date of any such termination, agreements with other distributors sufficient to maintain our revenues from distribution, if we were to lose Ingram Micro’s distribution services, such loss could have a negative impact on our results of operations until such time as we arrange to replace these distribution services with the services of existing or new distributors. We believe that we could replace the revenues earned from Ingram Micro’s distribution services in a relatively short period after a loss of these services and that the negative impact on our results of operations due to such a loss would be short-term.

The concentration of our product sales among a limited number of distributors increases our potential credit risk and could cause significant fluctuations or declines in our product revenues. As of December 31, 2006, approximately 28% and 11%, and as of December 31, 2005, approximately 30% and 11%, of our total accounts receivable outstanding were from two distributors. We anticipate that sales of our products to a limited number of distributors will continue to account for a significant portion of our total product revenues for the foreseeable future. The concentration of product sales among certain distributors increases our potential credit risks. One or more of these distributors could delay payments or default on credit extended to them. Any significant delay or default in the collection of significant accounts receivable could result in an increased need for us to obtain working capital from other sources, possibly on worse terms than we could have negotiated if we had established such working capital resources prior to such delays or defaults. Any significant default could result in a negative impact on our results of operations.

 

8


Table of Contents

We are dependent on our existing management and our key development personnel, and the loss of key personnel may prevent us from implementing our business plan in a timely manner.

Our success depends largely upon the continued services of our existing management. We are also substantially dependent on the continued service of our key development personnel for product innovation. We generally do not have employment or non-compete agreements with our existing management or development personnel and, therefore, they could terminate their employment with us at any time without penalty and could pursue employment opportunities with any of our competitors. The loss of key employees could seriously harm our ability to release new products on a timely basis and could significantly help our competitors.

Because competition for our target employees is intense, we may not be able to attract and retain the highly skilled employees we need to support our planned growth.

To execute our growth plan, we must attract and retain highly qualified personnel. Competition for these personnel is intense, especially for engineers with high levels of experience in designing and developing software and senior sales executives. We may not be successful in attracting and retaining qualified personnel. We have from time to time in the past experienced, and we expect to continue to experience in the future, difficulty in hiring and retaining highly skilled employees with appropriate qualifications. Many of the companies with which we compete for experienced personnel have greater resources than we have. In addition, in making employment decisions, particularly in the high-technology industry, job candidates often consider the value of the stock options, restricted stock grants or other equity-based compensation they are to receive in connection with their employment. A decline in the value of our stock after the IPO could adversely affect our ability to attract or retain key employees. If we fail to attract new personnel or fail to retain and motivate our current personnel, our business and future growth prospects could be severely harmed.

If we are unable to protect our intellectual property rights, our competitive position could be harmed or we could be required to incur significant expenses to enforce our rights.

We depend on our ability to protect our proprietary technology. We rely on trade secret, patent, copyright and trademark laws and confidentiality agreements with employees and third parties, all of which offer only limited protection. As such, despite our efforts, the steps we have taken to protect our proprietary rights may not be adequate to preclude misappropriation of our proprietary information or infringement of our intellectual property rights, and our ability to police such misappropriation or infringement is uncertain, particularly in countries outside of the United States. Further, with respect to patent rights, we do not know whether any of our pending patent applications will result in the issuance of patents or whether the examination process will require us to narrow our claims. Even if patents are issued from our patent applications, which is not certain, they may be contested, circumvented or invalidated in the future. Moreover, the rights granted under any issued patents may not provide us with proprietary protection or competitive advantages, and, as with any technology, competitors may be able to develop similar or superior technologies to our own now or in the future. In addition, we rely on contractual and license agreements with third parties in connection with their use of our products and technology. There is no guarantee that such parties will abide by the terms of such agreements or that we will be able to adequately enforce our rights, in part because we rely on “click-wrap” and “shrink-wrap” licenses in some instances.

Detecting and protecting against the unauthorized use of our products, technology and proprietary rights is expensive, difficult and, in some cases, impossible. Litigation may be necessary in the future to enforce or defend our intellectual property rights, to protect our trade secrets or to determine the validity and scope of the proprietary rights of others. Such litigation could result in substantial costs and diversion of management resources, either of which could harm our business, operating results and financial condition, and there is no guarantee that we would be successful. Furthermore, many of our current and potential competitors have the ability to dedicate substantially greater resources to protecting their technology or intellectual property rights than do we. Accordingly, despite our efforts, we may not be able to prevent third parties from infringing upon or misappropriating our intellectual property, which could result in a substantial loss of our market share.

 

9


Table of Contents

We provide access to our hypervisor and other selected source code to partners, which creates additional risk that our competitors could develop products that are similar or better than ours.

Our success and ability to compete depend substantially upon our internally developed technology, which is incorporated in the source code for our products. We seek to protect the source code, design code, documentation and other written materials for our software, under trade secret and copyright laws. However, we have chosen to provide access to our hypervisor and other selected source code to more than 35 of our partners for co-development, as well as for open APIs, formats and protocols. Though we generally control access to our source code and other intellectual property, and enter into confidentiality or license agreements with such partners, as well as with our employees and consultants, our safeguards may be insufficient to protect our rights to our technology. Our protective measures may be inadequate, especially because we may not be able to prevent our partners, employees or consultants from violating any agreements or licenses we may have in place or abusing their access granted to our source code. Improper disclosure or use of our source code could help competitors develop products similar to or better than ours.

Claims by others that we infringe their proprietary technology could force us to pay damages or prevent us from using certain technology in our products.

Third parties could claim that our products or technology infringe their proprietary rights. This risk may increase as the number of products and competitors in our market increases and overlaps occur. In addition, to the extent that we gain greater visibility and market exposure as a public company, we face a higher risk of being the subject of intellectual property infringement claims. Any claim of infringement by a third party, even one without merit, could cause us to incur substantial costs defending against the claim, and could distract our management from our business. Furthermore, a party making such a claim, if successful, could secure a judgment that requires us to pay substantial damages. A judgment could also include an injunction or other court order that could prevent us from offering our products. In addition, we might be required to seek a license for the use of such intellectual property, which may not be available on commercially reasonable terms or at all. Alternatively, we may be required to develop non-infringing technology, which could require significant effort and expense and may ultimately not be successful. Any of these events could seriously harm our business, operating results and financial condition. Third parties may also assert infringement claims against our customers and channel partners. Any of these claims could require us to initiate or defend potentially protracted and costly litigation on their behalf, regardless of the merits of these claims, because we generally indemnify our customers and channel partners from claims of infringement of proprietary rights of third parties in connection with the use of our products. If any of these claims succeed, we may be forced to pay damages on behalf of our customers or channel partners, which could materially reduce our income.

Our use of “open source” software could negatively affect our ability to sell our products and subject us to possible litigation.

A significant portion of the products or technologies acquired, licensed or developed by us may incorporate so-called “open source” software, and we may incorporate open source software into other products in the future. Such open source software is generally licensed by its authors or other third parties under open source licenses, including, for example, the GNU General Public License, the GNU Lesser General Public License, “Apache-style” licenses, “Berkeley Software Distribution,” “BSD-style” licenses and other open source licenses. We monitor our use of open source software in an effort to avoid subjecting our products to conditions we do not intend. Although we believe that we have complied with our obligations under the various applicable licenses for open source software that we use such that we have not triggered any such conditions, there is little or no legal precedent governing the interpretation of many of the terms of certain of these licenses, and therefore the potential impact of these terms on our business is somewhat unknown and may result in unanticipated obligations regarding our products and technologies. For example, we may be subjected to certain conditions, including requirements that we offer our products that use the open source software for no cost, that we make available source code for modifications or derivative works we create based upon, incorporating or using the open source software and/or that we license such modifications or derivative works under the terms of the particular open source license.

If an author or other third party that distributes such open source software were to allege that we had not complied with the conditions of one or more of these licenses, we could be required to incur significant legal expenses defending against such allegations. If our defenses were not successful, we could be subject to significant damages, enjoined from the distribution of our products that contained the open source software and required to comply with the foregoing conditions, which could disrupt the distribution and sale of some of our products. In addition, if we combine our proprietary software with open source software in a certain manner, under some open source licenses we could be required to release the source code of our proprietary software, which could substantially help our competitors develop products that are similar to or better than ours.

 

10


Table of Contents

Our sales cycles can be long and unpredictable, and our sales efforts require considerable time and expense. As a result, our sales are difficult to predict and may vary substantially from quarter to quarter, which may cause our operating results to fluctuate significantly.

The timing of our revenue is difficult to predict. Our sales efforts involve educating our customers about the use and benefit of our products, including their technical capabilities and potential cost savings to an organization. Customers typically undertake a significant evaluation process that has in the past resulted in a lengthy sales cycle, which typically lasts several months, and may last a year or longer. We spend substantial time, effort and money on our sales efforts without any assurance that our efforts will produce any sales. In addition, product purchases are frequently subject to budget constraints, multiple approvals, and unplanned administrative, processing and other delays. If sales expected from a specific customer for a particular quarter are not realized in that quarter or at all, our results could fall short of public expectations and our business, operating results and financial condition could be materially adversely affected.

Our current research and development efforts may not produce significant revenues for several years, if at all.

Developing our products is expensive. Our investment in research and development may not result in marketable products or may result in products that take longer to generate revenues, or generate less revenues, than we anticipate. Our research and development expenses were $148.3 million, or 21.1% of our total revenues in 2006, and $72.6 million, or 18.7% of our total revenues in 2005. Our future plans include significant investments in software research and development and related product opportunities. We believe that we must continue to dedicate a significant amount of resources to our research and development efforts to maintain our competitive position. However, we may not receive significant revenues from these investments for several years, if at all.

We may not be able to respond to rapid technological changes with new solutions and services offerings, which could have a material adverse effect on our sales and profitability.

The markets for our software solutions are characterized by rapid technological changes, changing customer needs, frequent new software product introductions and evolving industry standards. The introduction of third- party solutions embodying new technologies and the emergence of new industry standards could make our existing and future software solutions obsolete and unmarketable. We may not be able to develop updated products that keep pace with technological developments and emerging industry standards and that address the increasingly sophisticated needs of our customers or that interoperate with new or updated operating systems and hardware devices or certify our products to work with these systems and devices, and there is no assurance that any of our new offerings would be accepted in the marketplace. Significant reductions in server-related costs or the rise of more efficient infrastructure management software could also affect demand for our software solutions. As a result, we may not be able to accurately predict the lifecycle of our software solutions, and they may become obsolete before we receive the amount of revenues that we anticipate from them. If any of the foregoing events were to occur, our ability to retain or increase market share in the virtualization software market could be materially adversely affected.

Our ability to sell our products is dependent on the quality of our support and services offerings, and our failure to offer high-quality support and services could have a material adverse effect on our sales and results of operations.

Once our products are integrated within our customers’ hardware and software systems, our customers may depend on our support organization to resolve any issues relating to our products. A high level of support is critical for the successful marketing and sale of our products. If we or our channel partners do not effectively assist our customers in deploying our products, succeed in helping our customers quickly resolve post-deployment issues, and provide effective ongoing support, our ability to sell our products to existing customers would be adversely affected, and our reputation with potential customers could be harmed. In addition, as we expand our operations internationally, our support organization will face additional challenges, including those associated with delivering support, training and documentation in languages other than English. As a result, our failure to maintain high-quality support and services, or to adequately assist our channel partners in providing high-quality support and services, could result in customers choosing to use our competitors’ products instead of ours in the future.

 

11


Table of Contents

Adverse economic conditions or reduced information technology spending may adversely impact our revenues.

Our business depends on the overall demand for information technology and on the economic health of our current and prospective customers. The purchase of our products is often discretionary and may involve a significant commitment of capital and other resources. Weak economic conditions, or a reduction in information technology spending even if economic conditions improve, would likely adversely impact our business, operating results and financial condition in a number of ways, including by lengthening sales cycles, lowering prices for our products and services and reducing unit sales.

We may engage in future acquisitions that could disrupt our business, cause dilution to our stockholders and harm our business, operating results and financial condition.

In the future we may seek to acquire other businesses, products or technologies. However, we may not be able to find suitable acquisition candidates and we may not be able to complete acquisitions on favorable terms, if at all. If we do complete acquisitions, we may not ultimately strengthen our competitive position or achieve our goals, or may be viewed negatively by customers, financial markets or investors. Acquisitions may disrupt our ongoing operations, divert management from day-to-day responsibilities, increase our expenses and adversely impact our business, operating results and financial condition. Future acquisitions may reduce our cash available for operations and other uses and could result in an increase in amortization expense related to identifiable assets acquired, potentially dilutive issuances of equity securities or the incurrence of debt. We have limited historical experience with the integration of acquired companies. There can be no assurance that we will be able to manage the integration of acquired businesses effectively or be able to retain and motivate key personnel from these businesses. Any difficulties we encounter in the integration process could divert management from day-to-day responsibilities, increase our expenses and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Operating in foreign countries subjects us to additional risks that may harm our ability to increase or maintain our international sales and operations.

In 2006, we derived approximately 44% of our revenue from customers outside the United States. We have sales and technical support personnel in numerous countries worldwide. We expect to continue to add personnel in additional countries. Our international operations subject us to a variety of risks, including:

 

   

the difficulty of managing and staffing international offices and the increased travel, infrastructure and legal compliance costs associated with multiple international locations;

 

   

difficulties in enforcing contracts and collecting accounts receivable, and longer payment cycles, especially in emerging markets;

 

   

difficulties in delivering support, training and documentation in certain foreign markets;

 

   

tariffs and trade barriers and other regulatory or contractual limitations on our ability to sell or develop our products in certain foreign markets;

 

   

increased exposure to foreign currency exchange rate risk;

 

   

reduced protection for intellectual property rights, including reduced protection from software piracy in some countries; and

 

   

difficulties in maintaining appropriate controls relating to revenue recognition practices.

As we continue to expand our business globally, our success will depend, in large part, on our ability to anticipate and effectively manage these and other risks associated with our international operations. Our failure to manage any of these risks successfully could harm our international operations and reduce our international sales.

 

12


Table of Contents

Our products are highly technical and may contain errors, which could cause harm to our reputation and adversely affect our business.

Our products are highly technical and complex and, when deployed, have contained and may contain errors, defects or security vulnerabilities. Some errors in our products may only be discovered after a product has been installed and used by customers. Any errors, defects or security vulnerabilities discovered in our products after commercial release could result in loss of revenue or delay in revenue recognition, loss of customers and increased service and warranty cost, any of which could adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition. In addition, we could face claims for product liability, tort or breach of warranty, including claims relating to changes to our products made by our channel partners. Our contracts with customers contain provisions relating to warranty disclaimers and liability limitations, which may not be upheld. Defending a lawsuit, regardless of its merit, is costly and may divert management’s attention and adversely affect the market’s perception of us and our products. In addition, if our business liability insurance coverage proves inadequate or future coverage is unavailable on acceptable terms or at all, our business, operating results and financial condition could be adversely impacted.

Our independent registered public accounting firm identified a material weakness in the design and operation of our internal controls as of December 31, 2006, which, if not remedied, could result in material misstatements in our financial statements in future periods.

Our independent registered public accounting firm reported to our board of directors a material weakness in the design and operation of our internal controls as of December 31, 2006 related to the capitalization of software development costs. A material weakness is defined by the standards issued by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board as a more than remote likelihood that a material misstatement of the annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected. The material weakness resulted from a lack of adequate internal controls to ensure the timely identification and accumulation of costs once a project reaches technological feasibility under applicable accounting standards. The consolidated financial statements included in this prospectus reflect adjustments to properly state our capitalized software development costs for the periods included therein. Our independent registered public accounting firm was not engaged to audit the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2006. If such an evaluation had been performed, additional material weaknesses may have been identified.

Under Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and the current rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, our management and auditors will be required to evaluate and report on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2008. We believe we have a plan in place to remediate the material weakness by implementing additional formal policies, procedures and processes, hiring additional accounting personnel and increasing management review and oversight over the financial statement close process. We believe we had adequate controls in place at June 30, 2007 to remediate the material weakness and that there have not been and will not be any material costs associated with such remediation. If our remediation is insufficient to address the material weakness, or if additional material weaknesses in our internal controls are discovered in the future, we may fail to meet our future reporting obligations, our financial statements may contain material misstatements and the price of our common stock may decline.

If we fail to implement an effective system of internal controls, we may not be able to accurately report our financial results or prevent fraud. As a result, our stockholders could lose confidence in our financial reporting, which could harm our business and the trading price of our common stock.

We are preparing for compliance with Section 404 by addressing the existing material weakness in our internal controls and by strengthening, assessing and testing our system of internal controls. In particular, we believe we will need to increase the number of our accounting personnel and improve our processes and systems to ensure timely and accurate reporting of our financial results in accordance with reporting obligations as a stand-alone public company following the IPO. However, the continuous process of strengthening our internal controls and complying with Section 404 is expensive and time-consuming, and requires significant management attention. We cannot be certain that these measures will ensure that we will remediate the existing material weakness or implement adequate control over our financial processes and reporting. In addition, we have identified certain processes that need to be automated in order to ensure that we have effective internal control over financial reporting. If we are not able to automate these processes in a timely fashion, we will not be able to ensure compliance. Furthermore, if we rapidly grow our business, our internal controls will become more complex and we will require significantly more resources to ensure our internal controls overall remain effective. Failure to implement required new or improved controls, or difficulties encountered in their implementation, could harm our operating results or cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations. If we or our independent registered public accounting firm

 

13


Table of Contents

discover additional material weaknesses, the disclosure of that fact, even if quickly remedied, could reduce the market’s confidence in our financial statements and harm our stock price. In addition, future non-compliance with Section 404 could subject us to a variety of administrative sanctions, including the suspension or delisting of our common stock from the exchange on which we decide to list and the inability of registered broker-dealers to make a market in our common stock, which could further reduce our stock price.

If we fail to manage future growth effectively, we may not be able to meet our customers’ needs or be able to meet our future reporting obligations.

We have expanded our operations significantly since inception and anticipate that further significant expansion will be required. This future growth, if it occurs, will place significant demands on our management, infrastructure and other resources. To manage any future growth, we will need to hire, integrate and retain highly skilled and motivated employees. We will also need to continue to improve our financial and management controls, reporting and operational systems and procedures. If we do not effectively manage our growth we may not be able to meet our customers’ needs, thereby adversely affecting our sales, or be able to meet our future reporting obligations.

Our business is subject to the risks of earthquakes, fire, floods and other natural catastrophic events, and to interruption by man-made problems, such as computer viruses or terrorism, which could result in delays or cancellations of customer orders or the deployment of our products.

Our corporate headquarters are located in the San Francisco Bay Area, a region known for seismic activity. A significant natural disaster, such as an earthquake, fire or a flood, could have a material adverse impact on our business, operating results and financial condition. In addition, our servers are vulnerable to computer viruses, break-ins and similar disruptions from unauthorized tampering with our computer systems. In addition, acts of terrorism or war could cause disruptions in our or our customers’ business or the economy as a whole. To the extent that such disruptions result in delays or cancellations of customer orders, or the deployment of our products, our revenues would be adversely affected.

Changes to financial accounting standards may affect our reported financial results and cause us to change our business practices.

We prepare our financial statements to conform with generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP, in the United States. These accounting principles are subject to interpretation by the SEC and various other bodies. A change in those policies can have a significant effect on our reported results and may affect our reporting of transactions completed before a change is announced. Changes to those rules or the interpretation of our current practices may adversely affect our reported financial results or the way we conduct our business.

Risks Related to Our Relationship with EMC

As long as EMC controls us, your ability to influence matters requiring stockholder approval will be limited.

Following the IPO and subject to the closing of the Intel investment and the sale of Class A common stock to Cisco by EMC, EMC will own 26,500,000 shares of Class A common stock and all 300,000,000 shares of Class B common stock, representing approximately 87% of the total outstanding shares of common stock or 98% of the voting power of outstanding common stock. The holders of our Class A common stock and our Class B common stock have identical rights, preferences and privileges except with respect to voting and conversion rights, the election of directors, certain actions that require the consent of holders of Class B common stock and other protective provisions as set forth in this prospectus. Holders of our Class B common stock will be entitled to 10 votes per share of Class B common stock, and the holders of our Class A common stock will be entitled to one vote per share of Class A common stock. The holders of Class B common stock, voting separately as a class, are entitled to elect 80% of the total number of directors on our board of directors which we would have if there were no vacancies on our board of directors at the time. Subject to any rights of any series of preferred stock to elect directors, the holders of Class A common stock and the holders of Class B common stock, voting together as a single class, are entitled to elect our remaining directors, which at no time will be less than one director. If EMC transfers shares of our Class B common stock to any party other than a successor-in-interest or a subsidiary of EMC (other than in a distribution to its stockholders under Section 355 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or the Code, or

 

14


Table of Contents

in transfers following such a distribution), those shares would automatically convert into Class A common stock. For so long as EMC or its successor-in-interest beneficially owns shares of our common stock representing at least a majority of the votes entitled to be cast by the holders of outstanding voting stock, EMC will be able to elect all of the members of our board of directors.

In addition, until such time as EMC or its successor-in-interest beneficially owns shares of our common stock representing less than a majority of the votes entitled to be cast by the holders of outstanding voting stock, EMC will have the ability to take stockholder action without the vote of any other stockholder and without having to call a stockholder meeting, and investors in this offering will not be able to affect the outcome of any stockholder vote during this period. As a result, EMC will have the ability to control all matters affecting us, including:

 

   

the composition of our board of directors and, through our board of directors, any determination with respect to our business plans and policies;

 

   

any determinations with respect to mergers, acquisitions and other business combinations;

 

   

our acquisition or disposition of assets;

 

   

our financing activities;

 

   

certain changes to our certificate of incorporation;

 

   

changes to the agreements providing for our transition to becoming a public company;

 

   

corporate opportunities that may be suitable for us and EMC;

 

   

determinations with respect to enforcement of rights we may have against third parties, including with respect to intellectual property rights;

 

   

the payment of dividends on our common stock; and

 

   

the number of shares available for issuance under our stock plans for our prospective and existing employees.

Our certificate of incorporation and the master transaction agreement between us and EMC also contain provisions that require that as long as EMC beneficially owns at least 20% or more of the outstanding shares of our common stock, the prior affirmative vote or written consent of EMC (or its successor-in-interest) as the holder of the Class B common stock is required (subject in each case to certain exceptions) in order to authorize us to:

 

   

consolidate or merge with any other entity;

 

   

acquire the stock or assets of another entity in excess of $100 million;

 

   

issue any stock or securities except to our subsidiaries or pursuant to the IPO or our employee benefit plans;

 

   

dissolve, liquidate or wind us up;

 

   

declare dividends on our stock;

 

   

enter into any exclusive or exclusionary arrangement with a third party involving, in whole or in part, products or services that are similar to EMC’s; and

 

   

amend, terminate or adopt any provision inconsistent with certain provisions of our certificate of incorporation or bylaws.

If EMC does not provide any requisite consent allowing us to conduct such activities when requested, we will not be able to conduct such activities and, as a result, our business and our operating results may be harmed.

EMC’s voting control and its additional rights described above may discourage transactions involving a change of control of us, including transactions in which you as a holder of our Class A common stock might otherwise receive a premium for your shares over

 

15


Table of Contents

the then-current market price. EMC is not prohibited from selling a controlling interest in us to a third party and may do so without your approval and without providing for a purchase of your shares of Class A common stock. Accordingly, your shares of Class A common stock may be worth less than they would be if EMC did not maintain voting control over us or have the additional rights described above.

In the event EMC is acquired or otherwise undergoes a change of control, any acquiror or successor will be entitled to exercise the voting control and contractual rights of EMC, and may do so in a manner that could vary significantly from that of EMC.

By becoming a stockholder in our company, you will be deemed to have notice of and have consented to the provisions of our certificate of incorporation and the master transaction agreement with respect to the limitations that are described above.

Our business and that of EMC overlap, and EMC may compete with us, which could reduce our market share.

EMC and we are both IT infrastructure companies providing products related to storage management, back-up, disaster recovery, security, system management and automation, provisioning and resource management. There can be no assurance that EMC will not engage in increased competition with us in the future. In addition, the intellectual property agreement that we will enter into with EMC will provide EMC the ability to use our source code and intellectual property, which, subject to limitations, it may use to produce certain products that compete with ours. EMC’s rights in this regard extend to its majority owned subsidiaries, which could include joint ventures where EMC holds a majority position and one or more of our competitors hold minority positions.

EMC could assert control over us in a manner which could impede our growth or our ability to enter new markets or otherwise adversely affect our business. Further, EMC could utilize its control over us to cause us to take or refrain from taking certain actions, including entering into relationships with channel, technology and other marketing partners, enforcing our intellectual property rights or pursuing corporate opportunities or product development initiatives that could adversely affect our competitive position, including our competitive position relative to that of EMC in markets where we compete with them. In addition, EMC maintains significant partnerships with certain of our competitors, including Microsoft.

EMC’s competition in certain markets may affect our ability to build and maintain partnerships.

Our existing and potential partner relationships may be affected by our relationship with EMC. We partner with a number of companies that compete with EMC in certain markets in which EMC participates. EMC’s majority ownership in us might affect our ability to effectively partner with these companies. These companies may favor our competitors because of our relationship with EMC.

EMC competes with certain of our significant channel, technology and other marketing partners, including IBM and Hewlett-Packard. Pursuant to our certificate of incorporation and other agreements that we will have with EMC, EMC may have the ability to impact our relationship with our partners that compete with EMC, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations or our ability to pursue opportunities which may otherwise be available to us.

Our historical financial information as a business segment of EMC may not be representative of our results as an independent public company.

Our historical financial information does not necessarily reflect what our financial position, results of operations or cash flows would have been had we been an independent entity during the historical periods presented. The historical costs and expenses reflected in our consolidated financial statements include an allocation for certain corporate functions historically provided by EMC, including tax, accounting, treasury, legal and human resources services. The historical financial information is not necessarily indicative of what our results of operations, financial position, cash flows or costs and expenses will be in the future. We have not made pro forma adjustments to reflect many significant changes that will occur in our cost structure, funding and operations as a result of our transition to becoming a public company, including changes in our employee base, potential increased costs associated with reduced economies of scale and increased costs associated with being a publicly traded, stand-alone company.

 

16


Table of Contents

Our ability to operate our business effectively may suffer if we are unable to cost-effectively establish our own administrative and other support functions in order to operate as a stand-alone company after the expiration of our transitional services agreements with EMC.

As a subsidiary of EMC, we have relied on administrative and other resources of EMC to operate our business. In connection with the IPO, we entered into various service agreements to retain the ability for specified periods to use these EMC resources. These services may not be provided at the same level as when we were a wholly owned subsidiary of EMC, and we may not be able to obtain the same benefits that we received prior to the IPO. These services may not be sufficient to meet our needs, and after our agreements with EMC expire, we may not be able to replace these services at all or obtain these services at prices and on terms as favorable as we currently have with EMC. We will need to create our own administrative and other support systems or contract with third parties to replace EMC’s systems. In addition, we have received informal support from EMC which may not be addressed in the agreements we will enter into with EMC; the level of this informal support may diminish as we become a more independent company. Any failure or significant downtime in our own administrative systems or in EMC’s administrative systems during the transitional period could result in unexpected costs, impact our results and/or prevent us from paying our suppliers or employees and performing other administrative services on a timely basis.

After our IPO, we will be a smaller company relative to EMC, which could result in increased costs because of a decrease in our purchasing power and difficulty maintaining existing customer relationships and obtaining new customers.

Prior to our IPO, we were able to take advantage of EMC’s size and purchasing power in procuring goods, technology and services, including insurance, employee benefit support and audit and other professional services. We are a smaller company than EMC, and we cannot assure you that we will have access to financial and other resources comparable to those available to us prior to the IPO. As a stand-alone company, we may be unable to obtain office space, goods, technology and services at prices or on terms as favorable as those available to us prior to the IPO, which could increase our costs and reduce our profitability. Our future success depends on our ability to maintain our current relationships with existing customers, and we may have difficulty attracting new customers.

In order to preserve the ability for EMC to distribute its shares of our Class B common stock on a tax-free basis, we may be prevented from pursuing opportunities to raise capital, to effectuate acquisitions or to provide equity incentives to our employees, which could hurt our ability to grow.

Beneficial ownership of at least 80% of the total voting power and 80% of each class of nonvoting capital stock is required in order for EMC to effect a tax-free spin-off of VMware or certain other tax-free transactions. We have agreed that for so long as EMC or its successor-in-interest continues to own greater than 50% of the voting control of our outstanding common stock, we will not knowingly take or fail to take any action that could reasonably be expected to preclude EMC’s or its successor-in-interest’s ability to undertake a tax-free spin-off. Additionally, under our certificate of incorporation and the master transaction agreement between VMware and EMC, we must obtain the consent of EMC or its successor-in-interest as the holder of our Class B common stock to issue stock or other VMware securities excluding pursuant to employee benefit plans, which could cause us to forgo capital raising or acquisition opportunities that would otherwise be available to us. As a result, we may be precluded from pursuing certain growth initiatives.

Third parties may seek to hold us responsible for liabilities of EMC, which could result in a decrease in our income.

Third parties may seek to hold us responsible for EMC’s liabilities. Under our master transaction agreement with EMC, EMC will indemnify us for claims and losses relating to liabilities related to EMC’s business and not related to our business. However, if those liabilities are significant and we are ultimately held liable for them, we cannot assure you that we will be able to recover the full amount of our losses from EMC.

 

17


Table of Contents

Although we have entered into a new tax sharing agreement with EMC under which our tax liabilities effectively will be determined as if we were not part of any consolidated, combined or unitary tax group of EMC Corporation and/or its subsidiaries, we nonetheless could be held liable for the tax liabilities of other members of these groups.

We have historically been included in EMC’s consolidated group for U.S. federal income tax purposes, as well as in certain consolidated, combined or unitary groups that include EMC Corporation and/or certain of its subsidiaries for state and local income tax purposes. We have entered into a new tax sharing agreement with EMC that became effective upon consummation of the IPO. Pursuant to the new tax sharing agreement, we and EMC generally will make payments to each other such that, with respect to tax returns for any taxable period in which we or any of our subsidiaries are included in EMC’s consolidated group for U.S. federal income tax purposes or any other consolidated, combined or unitary group of EMC Corporation and/or its subsidiaries, the amount of taxes to be paid by us will be determined, subject to certain adjustments, as if we and each of our subsidiaries included in such consolidated, combined or unitary group filed our own consolidated, combined or unitary tax return.

We have been included in the EMC consolidated group for U.S. federal income tax purposes for periods in which EMC owned at least 80% of the total voting power and value of our outstanding stock and expect to be included in such consolidated group following the IPO. Each member of a consolidated group during any part of a consolidated return year is jointly and severally liable for tax on the consolidated return of such year and for any subsequently determined deficiency thereon. Similarly, in some jurisdictions, each member of a consolidated, combined or unitary group for state, local or foreign income tax purposes is jointly and severally liable for the state, local or foreign income tax liability of each other member of the consolidated, combined or unitary group. Accordingly, for any period in which we are included in the EMC consolidated group for U.S. federal income tax purposes or any other consolidated, combined or unitary group of EMC Corporation and/or its subsidiaries, we could be liable in the event that any income tax liability was incurred, but not discharged, by any other member of any such group.

Our inability to resolve favorably any disputes that arise between us and EMC with respect to our past and ongoing relationships may result in a significant reduction of our revenue.

Disputes may arise between EMC and us in a number of areas relating to our ongoing relationships, including:

 

   

labor, tax, employee benefit, indemnification and other matters arising from our separation from EMC;

 

   

employee retention and recruiting;

 

   

business combinations involving us;

 

   

our ability to engage in activities with certain channel, technology or other marketing partners;

 

   

sales or dispositions by EMC of all or any portion of its ownership interest in us;

 

   

the nature, quality and pricing of services EMC has agreed to provide us;

 

   

business opportunities that may be attractive to both EMC and us; and

 

   

product or technology development or marketing activities which may require the consent of EMC.

We may not be able to resolve any potential conflicts, and even if we do, the resolution may be less favorable than if we were dealing with an unaffiliated party.

The agreements we have entered into with EMC may be amended upon agreement between the parties. While we are controlled by EMC, we may not have the leverage to negotiate amendments to these agreements if required on terms as favorable to us as those we would negotiate with an unaffiliated third party.

Some of our directors and executive officers own EMC common stock, restricted shares of EMC common stock or options to acquire EMC common stock and hold management positions with EMC, which could cause conflicts of interests that result in our not acting on opportunities we otherwise may have.

Some of our directors and executive officers own EMC common stock and options to purchase EMC common stock. In addition, some of our directors are executive officers and/or directors of EMC. Ownership of EMC common stock, restricted shares of EMC common stock and options to purchase EMC common stock by our directors and officers and the presence of executive officers

 

18


Table of Contents

or directors of EMC on our board of directors could create, or appear to create, conflicts of interest with respect to matters involving both us and EMC that could have different implications for EMC than they do for us. Provisions of our certificate of incorporation and the master transaction agreement between VMware and EMC address corporate opportunities that are presented to our directors or officers that are also directors or officers of EMC. We cannot assure you that the provisions in our certificate of incorporation will adequately address potential conflicts of interest or that potential conflicts of interest will be resolved in our favor or that we will be able to take advantage of corporate opportunities presented to individuals who are officers or directors of both us and EMC. As a result, we may be precluded from pursuing certain growth initiatives.

EMC’s ability to control our board of directors may make it difficult for us to recruit high-quality independent directors.

So long as EMC beneficially owns shares of our common stock representing at least a majority of the votes entitled to be cast by the holders of outstanding voting stock, EMC can effectively control and direct our board of directors. Further, the interests of EMC and our other stockholders may diverge. Under these circumstances, persons who might otherwise accept our invitation to join our board of directors may decline.

We are a “controlled company” within the meaning of the New York Stock Exchange rules, and, as a result, rely on exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements that provide protection to stockholders of other companies.

EMC owns more than 50% of the total voting power of our common shares and we are a “controlled company” under the New York Stock Exchange corporate governance standards. As a controlled company, certain exemptions under the New York Stock Exchange standards free us from the obligation to comply with certain New York Stock Exchange corporate governance requirements, including the requirements:

 

   

that a majority of our board of directors consists of independent directors;

 

   

that we have a corporate governance and nominating committee that is composed entirely of independent directors with a written charter addressing the committee’s purpose and responsibilities;

 

   

that we have a compensation committee that is composed entirely of independent directors with a written charter addressing the committee’s purpose and responsibilities; and

 

   

for an annual performance evaluation of the nominating and governance committee and compensation committee.

While we will voluntarily cause our Compensation and Corporate Governance Committee to initially be composed entirely of independent directors in compliance with the requirements of the New York Stock Exchange, we are not required to maintain the independent composition of the committee. As a result of our use of the “controlled company” exemptions, you will not have the same protection afforded to stockholders of companies that are subject to all of the New York Stock Exchange corporate governance requirements.

Intel’s and Cisco’s ownership relationship with us and the membership of an Intel representative on our board may create actual or potential conflicts of interest.

Under a pending investment by Intel Capital, Intel Corporation will have an ownership relationship with us and a representative of Intel is expected to become a member of our board of directors. Under a pending stock purchase by Cisco from EMC, Cisco will also have an ownership relationship with us, and we have agreed to consider the appointment of a Cisco executive to our board of directors at a future date. These relationships may create actual or potential conflicts of interest and the best interests of Intel or Cisco may not reflect your best interests.

 

19


Table of Contents

USE OF PROCEEDS

The Company will not receive any of the proceeds from the sale of the Shares. All proceeds from the sale of the Shares will be for the account of the Selling Stockholders, as described below. See “Selling Stockholders” and “Plan of Distribution” described below.

SELLING STOCKHOLDERS

The following table includes the names of the Selling Stockholders and the number of Shares to be sold by them pursuant to this prospectus:

 

Selling Stockholder

  

Position with the
Company

   Shares of Class A
common stock
beneficially owned (1)
   Shares of Class A
common stock
offered for resale
    Shares of Class A
common stock
beneficially owned
after resale (5)

Michael W. Brown

   Director (2)    40,000    40,000 (3)   —  

Greg Eden

   Director of Public Relations    —      5,560 (4)   —  

John R. Egan

   Director (2)    40,000    40,000 (3)   —  

Diane Greene

   President and Chief Executive Officer and Director (2)    —      85,000 (4)   —  

Taylor Hutt

   Senior Member of Technical Staff    —      2,780 (4)   —  

Alexander Klaiber

   Principal Engineer    —      11,120 (4)   —  

Mark S. Peek

   Chief Financial Officer (2)    —      433,216 (4)   —  

David N. Strohm

   Director (2)    40,000    40,000 (3)   —  

(1) Share figures are as of August 1, 2007.
(2) Officer and/or director of VMware.
(3) Consists of shares of restricted Class A common stock previously issued upon exercise of options granted under VMware’s 2007 Equity and Incentive Plan.
(4) Consists of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon vesting of restricted stock units previously awarded under VMware’s 2007 Equity and Incentive Plan.
(5) Assumes that all Shares offered for resale pursuant to this prospectus are sold.


Table of Contents

PLAN OF DISTRIBUTION

The purpose of this prospectus is to permit the Selling Stockholders, if they desire, to offer for sale and sell all or a portion of certain Shares they have acquired pursuant to the exercise of options or may acquire upon vesting of restricted stock units granted under VMware’s 2007 Equity and Incentive Plan at such times and at such places as the Selling Stockholders choose. The Selling Stockholders may also choose to dispose of all or a portion of their Shares by gift to a third party or as a donation to a charitable or other non-profit entity.

The decision to sell any Shares is within the discretion of the Selling Stockholder, subject generally to the Company’s policies affecting the timing and manner of sale of Class A common stock. Michael W. Brown, John R. Egan, Diane B. Greene, Mark S. Peek and David N. Strohm are each subject to lock-up agreements entered into in connection with the IPO, pursuant to which they are restricted from selling their respective Shares within 180 days (subject to extension in certain circumstances) from the IPO. None of these Selling Stockholders have any intention to sell their Shares within this lock-up period. There can be no assurance that any Shares will be sold by the Selling Stockholders.

The Selling Stockholders have advised us that sales of Shares may be effected from time to time in one or more types of transactions (which may include block transactions) on the New York Stock Exchange, in negotiated transactions, or a combination of such methods of sale, at market prices prevailing at the time of sale, at prices related to such prevailing market prices or at prices otherwise negotiated. Such transactions may or may not involve brokers or dealers. The Selling Stockholders have advised us that they have not entered into any agreements, understandings or arrangements with any underwriters or broker-dealers regarding the sale of their Shares, nor is there an underwriter or coordinating broker acting in connection with the proposed sale of the Shares by the Selling Stockholders.

The Selling Stockholders may effect such transactions by selling Shares directly to purchasers or to or through broker-dealers, which may act as agents or principals. Such broker-dealers may receive compensation in the form of discounts, concessions, or commissions from the Selling Stockholders and/or the purchasers of Shares for whom such broker-dealers may act as agents or to whom they sell as principal, or both (which compensation as to a particular broker-dealer might be in excess of customary commissions). Shares to be offered or resold by means of this prospectus by a Selling Stockholder may not exceed, during any three-month period, the amount specified in Rule 144(e) under the Securities Act.

The Selling Stockholders and any broker-dealers that act in connection with the sale of Shares might be deemed to be “underwriters” within the meaning of Section 2(11) of the Securities Act, and any commissions received by such broker-dealers and any profit on the resale of the Shares sold by them while acting as principals might be deemed to be underwriting discounts or commissions under the Securities Act. The Selling Stockholders may agree to indemnify any agent, dealer or broker-dealer that participates in transactions involving sales of the Shares against certain liabilities, including liabilities arising under the Securities Act.

Because the Selling Stockholders may be deemed to be “underwriters” within the meaning of Section 2(11) of the Securities Act, the Selling Stockholders may be subject to the prospectus delivery requirements of the Securities Act.

We have informed the Selling Stockholders that the anti-manipulative provisions of Regulation M promulgated under the Exchange Act may apply to their sales in the market.

The Selling Stockholders also may resell all or a portion of the Shares in open market transactions in reliance upon Rule 144 under the Securities Act, provided they meet the criteria and conform to the requirements of such Rule.


Table of Contents

LEGAL MATTERS

The validity of the Shares of Class A Common Stock offered hereby will be passed upon by Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, Boston, Massachusetts, counsel to the Company.

EXPERTS

The financial statements as of December 31, 2006 and 2005, for each of the two years in the period ended December 31, 2006 and for the period from January 9, 2004 to December 31, 2004, included in the Registration Statement on Form S-1 of VMware, Inc. were so included, and are incorporated herein by reference, in reliance on the report of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, given on the authority of said firm as experts in auditing and accounting.

NO PERSON IS AUTHORIZED IN CONNECTION WITH ANY OFFERING MADE BY THIS PROSPECTUS TO GIVE ANY INFORMATION OR TO MAKE ANY REPRESENTATIONS NOT CONTAINED IN THIS PROSPECTUS, AND, IF GIVEN OR MADE, SUCH INFORMATION OR REPRESENTATIONS MUST NOT BE RELIED UPON AS HAVING BEEN AUTHORIZED BY THE COMPANY, ANY SELLING STOCKHOLDER OR BY ANY OTHER PERSON. THIS PROSPECTUS DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER TO SELL OR A SOLICITATION OF AN OFFER TO BUY ANY SECURITY OTHER THAN THE SHARES OFFERED HEREBY, NOR DOES IT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER TO SELL OR A SOLICITATION OF AN OFFER TO BUY ANY OF THE SHARES OFFERED HEREBY TO ANY PERSON IN ANY JURISDICTION IN WHICH IT IS UNLAWFUL TO MAKE SUCH AN OFFER OR SOLICITATION. NEITHER THE DELIVERY OF THIS PROSPECTUS NOR ANY SALE OF OR OFFER TO SELL THE SHARES MADE HEREUNDER SHALL UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES CREATE ANY IMPLICATION THAT THERE HAS BEEN NO CHANGE IN THE AFFAIRS OF THE COMPANY SINCE THE DATE HEREOF OR THAT THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN IS CORRECT AS OF ANY TIME SUBSEQUENT TO THE DATE HEREOF.


Table of Contents

VMWARE, INC.

657,676 SHARES

OF

CLASS A COMMON STOCK

 


PROSPECTUS

 


August 13, 2007


Table of Contents

PART II

INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT

 

Item 3. Incorporation of Documents by Reference

The Company hereby incorporates by reference into this Registration Statement the following documents:

(a) The Company’s Prospectus included in Amendment No. 6 to the Registration Statement on Form S-1, filed with the Commission on August 9, 2007 and declared effective by the Commission on August 13, 2007, and the Company’s Prospectus to be filed by August 15, 2007 pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended; and

(b) the description of the Class A common stock contained in the Company’s Registration Statement on Form 8-A, filed on July 27, 2007 pursuant to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), including any amendments or reports filed for the purpose of updating such description.

All documents subsequently filed by the Company pursuant to Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 and 15(d) of the Exchange Act prior to the filing of a post-effective amendment which indicates that all securities offered have been sold or which deregisters all securities then remaining unsold, shall be deemed to be incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement and to be a part hereof from the date of filing of such documents. Statements contained in this Registration Statement or in a document incorporated by reference may be modified or superseded by later statements in this Registration Statement or by statements in subsequent documents incorporated by reference, in which case you should refer to the later statement.

 

Item 4. Description of Securities

Not applicable.

 

Item 5. Interests of Named Experts and Counsel

Not applicable.

 

Item 6. Indemnification of Directors and Officers

Delaware law permits a corporation to adopt a provision in its certificate of incorporation eliminating or limiting the personal liability of a director, but not an officer in his or her capacity as such, to the corporation or its stockholders for monetary damages for breach of fiduciary duty as a director, except that such provision shall not eliminate or limit the liability of a director for (1) any breach of the director’s duty of loyalty to the corporation or its stockholders, (2) acts or omissions not in good faith or which involve intentional misconduct or a knowing violation of law, (3) liability under section 174 of the Delaware General Corporation Law (the “DGCL”) for unlawful payment of dividends or stock purchases or redemptions or (4) any transaction from which the director derived an improper personal benefit. Our certificate of incorporation will provide that, to the fullest extent of Delaware law, none of our directors will be liable to us or our stockholders for monetary damages for breach of fiduciary duty as a director.

Under Delaware law, a corporation may indemnify any person who was or is a party or is threatened to be made a party to any type of proceeding, other than an action by or in the right of the corporation, by reason of the fact that he or she is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation, or is or was serving at the request of the corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation or other entity, against expenses, including attorneys’ fees, judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement actually and reasonably incurred in connection with such proceeding if: (1) he or she acted in good faith and in a manner he or she reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the corporation and (2) with respect to any criminal proceeding, he or she had no reasonable cause to believe that his or her conduct was unlawful. The termination of any proceeding by judgment, order, settlement, conviction, or upon a plea of nolo contendere or its equivalent, shall not, of itself, create a presumption that a person did not act in good faith and in a manner which he or she reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests


Table of Contents

of the corporation, and, with respect to any criminal proceeding, had reasonable cause to believe that his or her conduct was unlawful. A corporation may indemnify any person who was or is a party or is threatened to be made a party to any threatened, pending or completed action or suit brought by or in the right of the corporation to procure a judgment in its favor by reason of the fact that he or she is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation, or is or was serving at the request of the corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation or other entity, against expenses, including attorneys’ fees, actually and reasonably incurred in connection with such action or suit if he or she acted in good faith and in a manner he or she reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the corporation, except that no indemnification will be made if the person is found liable to the corporation unless, in such a case, the court determines the person is nonetheless entitled to indemnification for such expenses. A corporation must also indemnify a present or former director or officer who has been successful on the merits or otherwise in defense of any proceeding, or in defense of any claim, issue or matter therein, against expenses, including attorneys’ fees, actually and reasonably incurred by him or her. Expenses, including attorneys’ fees, incurred by a director, officer, employee or agent, in defending civil or criminal proceedings may be paid by the corporation in advance of the final disposition of such proceedings upon, in the case of a current director or officer, receipt of an undertaking by or on behalf of such director or officer to repay such amount if it shall ultimately be determined that he or she is not entitled to be indemnified by the corporation. The Delaware law regarding indemnification and the advancement of expenses is not exclusive of any other rights a person may be entitled to under any bylaw, agreement, vote of stockholders or disinterested directors or otherwise.

Section 174 of the DGCL provides, among other things, that a director, who willfully or negligently approves of an unlawful payment of dividends or an unlawful stock purchase or redemption, may be held liable for such actions. A director who was either absent when the unlawful actions were approved or dissented at the time, may avoid liability by causing his or her dissent to such actions to be entered in the books containing the minutes of the meetings of the board of directors at the time such action occurred or immediately after such absent director receives notice of the unlawful acts.

Our certificate of incorporation and bylaws generally provide for mandatory indemnification of directors and officers to the fullest extent permitted by law. We have also entered into indemnification agreements with our directors in the form filed as an exhibit to our Registration Statement on Form S-1 (Registration No. 333-142368) that will generally provide for mandatory indemnification to the fullest extent permitted by law.

Delaware law also provides that a corporation may purchase and maintain insurance on behalf of any person who is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation, or is or was serving at the request of the corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation or other entity, against any liability asserted against and incurred by such person, whether or not the corporation would have the power to indemnify such person against such liability. We will maintain, at our expense, an insurance policy that insures our officers and directors, subject to customary exclusions and deductions, against specified liabilities that may be incurred in those capacities.

 

Item 7. Exemption From Registration Claimed

The shares of Class A common stock issued pursuant to the exercised of stock options or issuable upon the vesting of restricted stock units to selling stockholders who are reoffering and reselling such shares of Class A common stock pursuant to this registration statement did not require registration under the Securities Act because the grants either did not involve a “sale” of securities as such term is used in Section 2(3) of the Securities Act or were exempt from registration in reliance on Rule 701 promulgated under Section 3(b) of the Securities Act.

 

Item 8. Exhibits

 

Exhibit

 

Description

3.1

  Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation*

3.2

  Amended and Restated Bylaws*


Table of Contents

5.1

  Opinion of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP regarding the legality of the securities being registered.

23.1

  Consent of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.

23.2

  Consent of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP (included in the opinion filed as Exhibit 5.1 hereto).

24.1

  Power of Attorney (included on signature page).

* Incorporated by reference to Amendment No. 2 to the Registration Statement on Form S-1 of VMware, Inc. (Registration Statement No. 333-142368) filed with the Commission on July 9, 2007.

 

Item 9. Undertakings

1. The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes:

(a) To file, during any period in which offers or sales are being made, a post-effective amendment to the Registration Statement:

(i) to include any prospectus required by Section 10(a)(3) of the Securities Act;

(ii) to reflect in the prospectus any facts or events arising after the effective date of the Registration Statement (or the most recent post-effective amendment thereof) which, individually or in the aggregate, represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the Registration Statement; and

(iii) to include any material information with respect to the plan of distribution not previously disclosed in the Registration Statement or any material change to such information in the Registration Statement;

provided, however, that paragraphs (a)(i) and (a)(ii) do not apply if the information required to be included in a post-effective amendment by those paragraphs is contained in periodic reports filed with or furnished to the Commission by the Company pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act that are incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement.

(b) That, for the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

(c) To remove from registration by means of a post-effective amendment any of the securities being registered which remain unsold at the termination of the offering.

2. The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each filing of the Company’s annual report pursuant to Section 13(a) or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act that is incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

3. Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the Company pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the Company has been advised that in the opinion of the Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the Company of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the Company in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, the Company will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.


Table of Contents

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, the registrant has duly caused this Registration Statement on Form S-8 to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized in the City of Palo Alto, State of California, on August 13, 2007.

 

VMWARE, INC.
By:  

/s/ Diane B. Greene

Name:   Diane B. Greene
Title:  

President and Chief Executive Officer

and Director

POWER OF ATTORNEY

KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS, the undersigned hereby constitute and appoint Rashmi Garde and Paul T. Dacier and each of them, his or her true and lawful attorney-in-fact and agent, each with full power of substitution and resubstitution, for him and in his name, place and stead, in any and all capacities, to sign any and all amendments (including post-effective amendments) to this registration statement, or any related registration statement filed pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and to file the same, with exhibits thereto, and other documents in connection therewith, with the Securities and Exchange Commission, granting unto said attorneys-in-fact and agents, and each of them, full power and authority to do and perform each and every act and thing requisite or necessary to be done in connection therewith, as fully to all intents and purposes as he might or could do in person, hereby ratifying and confirming all that each of said attorneys-in-fact and agents, or his substitute or substitutes, may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue hereof.

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, this Registration Statement on Form S-8 has been signed by the following persons in the capacities and on the dates indicated.

 

Signature

  

Title

  

Date

/s/ Diane B. Greene

   President and Chief Executive Officer    August 13, 2007
Diane B. Greene    (principal executive officer) and Director   

/s/ Mark S. Peek

   Chief Financial Officer (principal    August 13, 2007
Mark S. Peek    financial officer, principal accounting officer)   

/s/ Joseph M. Tucci

   Chairman of the Board of Directors    August 13, 2007
Joseph M. Tucci      

/s/ Michael W. Brown

   Director    August 13, 2007
Michael W. Brown      

/s/ John R. Egan

   Director    August 13, 2007
John R. Egan      

/s/ David I. Goulden

   Director    August 13, 2007
David I. Goulden      

/s/ David N. Strohm

   Director    August 13, 2007
David N. Strohm