Digital Equipment Corp’s decision to file for a shelf registration of up to $1,000m in debt securities – the idea of a shelf registration is that you make a blanket registration to issue the maximum amount you think you might need over the next couple of years or so, and later offer it in tranches as and when needed – will have caused a pang to founder Ken Olsen, still officially president until October but effectively out of the picture with his appointed successor, Robert Palmer, now running the company: under Olsen DEC was always extremely debt-averse and has just $42m of debt outstanding, but the cash pile, which stood at about $2,000m a year ago, has been shrinking and is now down to $1,300m; the decision to increase the debt-to-equity ratio, which will still be relatively low even if the whole $1,000m ends up being issued, is seen as a move to conserve cash as the company takes big hits from its restructuring.
