Dell Technologies confirmed in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that an initial public offering (IPO) is its backup plan.

In July, Dell and VMware said they reached a $9 billion deal under which Dell would acquire the stock that tracks Dell’s controlling stake in VMware (Dell owns 81 percent of VMware). This would allow Dell to again be publicly listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) without a formal IPO.

Today’s filing says Dell’s board of directors still believes the VMware tracking stock deal “is in the best interests of Dell’s stockholders” and that the company still plans to seek stockholder approval for the transaction. But, as a backup plan, “Dell has met with certain investment banks to explore a potential initial public offering of its Class C common stock.”

Reports that Dell was meeting with investment banks and considering an IPO surfaced late last month. Dell at that time would not confirm the reports. Dell investors representing about 20 percent of the VMware tracking shares plan to reject the tracking stock deal, according to media reports.