Seagate Technology plc (NASDAQ:STX), a world leader in storage solutions, today announced a secondary block trade transaction of approximately 12.5 million ordinary and existing shares. Participating in this transaction are ValueAct Capital and Seagate Technology, as a result of which ValueAct Capital will become one of Seagate’s largest shareholders with approximately 9.5 million ordinary shares upon transaction closing. In connection with the transaction, ValueAct has been invited to serve as an observer on Seagate’s Board of Directors. The transaction is conditioned on customary regulatory approval which is expected by the end of September.

"We are very pleased to have ValueAct Capital as one of our largest investors. Seagate approached ValueAct to execute this transaction and become an investor in our company, given their commitment to and success in creating long-term value for the companies in which they invest. The Seagate Board and management team are looking forward to engaging with the ValueAct team as we leverage their experience and resources to further strengthen the company and create long-term investment appreciation for Seagate shareholders,” said Steve Luczo, Seagate’s chairman and chief executive officer.

"Seagate has a strong storage technology portfolio and is well positioned to benefit from attractive long-term secular trends,” said Mason Morfit, ValueAct Capital's president. “We are very excited about the opportunity to work with the Seagate team, at both the Board and management level, to help increase long-term value for all shareholders."

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Copyright 2016 Seagate Technology LLC. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. Seagate, Seagate Technology, the Seagate logo and FastFormat are trademarks or registered trademarks of Seagate Technology LLC in the United States and/or other countries. When referring to drive capacity, one terabyte, or TB, equals one thousand billion bytes. Your computer’s operating system may use a different standard of measurement and report a lower capacity. In addition, some of the listed capacity is used for formatting and other functions and will not be available for data storage. Quantitative usage examples for various applications are for illustrative purposes. Actual quantities will vary based on various factors, including file size, file format, features, and application software.