VMware has completed its spin-off from Dell, becoming an independent company for the first time in 18 years.

VMware is one of the leading virtualization companies. Its software is used by some of the biggest companies in the world, and has been instrumental in the transition to the cloud. The company was bought by EMC in 2004, which was in turn bought by Dell in 2016.

In April of this year, the two companies announced that Dell would spin off VMware in a deal that was expected to top $9 billion, and help the PC maker address its outstanding debt.

The spin-off was completed Monday, with Dell receiving $9.3 billion and VMWare free to pursue new opportunities.

“By spinning off VMware, we expect to drive additional growth opportunities for Dell Technologies as well as VMware, and unlock significant value for stakeholders,” said Michael Dell, chairman and chief executive officer, Dell Technologies. “Both companies will remain important partners, providing Dell Technologies with a differentiated advantage in how we bring solutions to customers. At the same time, Dell Technologies will continue to modernize its core infrastructure and PC businesses and embrace new opportunities through an open ecosystem to grow in hybrid and private cloud, edge and telecom.”

“VMware’s mission is to deliver the trusted software foundation that accelerates our customers’ innovation,” said Raghu Raghuram, chief executive officer, VMware. “As a standalone company, we will continue to bring our multi-cloud strategy to life by providing our customers the power to accelerate their business and control their destiny in this new era.”