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Chinese numerologists are betting Dell/EMC deal will make them rich

Singapore's state investment company is buying the lucky number of 18,181,818 shares

The Register can reveal that Chinese numerology is playing a part in Dell's acquisition of EMC.

Deep in the SEC filings about the deal is the factoid that a parcel of 18,181,818 shares of Class C Common Stock will end up in the hands of “Venezio Investments Pte. Ltd., an affiliate of Temasek Holdings (Private) Limited.”

The number “8” is extremely propitious in Chinese numerology, because the word for eight in Cantonese and Mandarin– baat and ba respectively – sound a lot like the language's words for “luck” – faat and fa, respectively.

Numerology is serious in China: the Beijing Olympics started on the eighth day of the eighth month, at 8:08 PM.

18 is also a lucky number, as it sounds a lot like the words for “going to be lucky.”

A shareholding of 18,181,818 shares is therefore no accident: Temasek is trying to make sure that the $2bn or so it's contributing to the deal reaps handsome reward.

Temasek's involvement is a bit of a lucky charm for other reasons. The company is owned by the government of Singapore and on the March 31st 2015 oversaw a portfolio valued at just under $200bn. Since commencing operations in 1974, Temasek has achieved 16 per cent compounded annual growth. That's a very decent number for any fund and a very nice one for Singapore, because Temasek is expected to nourish the nation's finances.

Temasek's track record means its investment in EMC/Dell is itself a big vote of confidence in the deal – and, by association, the future of on-premises IT. That Temasek's other tech investments include Alibaba, Indian telco Bharti Airtel and Singtel doesn't hurt either, as all three have decent growth prospects. Clearly Temasek thinks EMC/Dell will do alright. ®

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