EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC) has made the daily news flow after signing a deal to acquire the privately held Virtustream. The size of this $1.2 billion deal does not exactly say that EMC found the next VMware Inc. (NYSE: VMW). Perhaps what the deal really does is spell trouble for EMC’s activist investors who have wanted more change.

The deal appears to be an all-cash transaction. While Virtustream is a private company, the deal is not expected to close until the third quarter of 2015. Virtustream and EMC have both approved the deal, and on the surface there would not seem to be any antitrust issues to worry about.

EMC did warn that the Virtustream deal will not have a material impact on 2015 financial results. The deal is expected to add to revenues and is expected to add to EMC’s earnings next year.

EMC CEO Joe Tucci did call it a game-changing event, as Virtustream will form EMC’s new managed cloud services business. Tucci said that the deal is a critical and transformative acquisition, which is also in one of the fastest growing and most important segments in technology.

EMC will now get yet one more avenue to marry, or amalgamate, its storage business and other myriad of software and hardware services.

So, this is why activists are not expected to like this buyout. EMC has been under a light degree of pressure from the activist group Elliott Management for approaching a year now. The group has pressed to get EMC to spin off or sell its VMware stake. If EMC is adding another layer to its portfolio, and if it is spending $1.2 billion to do so, how likely does a suddenly reconsidered corporate breakup sound?

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The Virtustream deal would only seem to strengthen EMC’s VMware efforts with the virtualized cloud presence. Usually companies do not make bolt-on acquisitions just to turn around and unload an enhanced unit to shareholders. It of course can happen, but it doesn’t seem likely here. Elliott likely would read the writing on the wall: EMC is saying yet again that the company will keep with its strategy for the long term rather than unlocking value just for the short term.

Something else to consider is that the Virtustream deal may help to enhance cloud offerings and bring more cross selling ambitions in the company, but at a rate that just might not move the needle enough.

EMC’s growth has sputtered compared to years past. Virtustream helps customers move all of their applications to cloud-based IT environments. Its portfolio of products and services will be delivered directly to customers and through EMC’s global partner ecosystem as a separate EMC Federation business. Existing Virtustream customers include Intel, Goodyear, Allied Irish Bank, Domino Sugar, SAP, Hess, Travelers, Pizza Hut, MeesPierson and UOL (Brazil).

Spending $1.2 billion at a time for a buyout is not much, and it comes to what was a 2014 accelerated buyback that was raised to $3 billion from $2 billion, with a note from EMC that it would buy back close to $3 billion in 2015.

The firm Bernstein was positive on EMC in mid-April, not on earnings, but on the possibilities of a larger buyback plan. While it may be getting the buyback, it doesn’t sound like it is going to break itself up any more than the communication that VMware will be part of EMC for the long term.

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Another pre-deal disappointment for activist chasers is that Elliott entered a standstill agreement with EMC, after EMC named two new board members.

Again, it seems as though another bolt-on acquisition might not be a sign that it thinks there is any huge hurry to break up the company. To prove the point: EMC shares were down 2.2% at $26.25 in mid-afternoon trading on Tuesday. EMC’s 52-week trading range is $25.07 to $30.92, and the market cap is $51 billion.

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