Dell will be a private company after approval

NEW YORK CITY, USA: Shareholders in Dell approved on Thursday (12 September) a proposal led by company founder Michael Dell to take the iconic computer company private.

13 Sep 2013

Dell said the proposal, worth about US$25bn, won an unspecified majority of votes from the holders of Dell stock.

The buyers consortium sweetened the deal in recent weeks in response to criticism from activist Carl Icahn and others, who had complained their offer undervalued the company.

The deal clears the way for Michael Dell and partner investment firm Silver Lake to transform the company away from the glare of public markets where there is a need to wow investors with great quarterly results.

"I am pleased with this outcome and am energised to continue building Dell into the industry's leading provider of scalable, end-to-end technology solutions," said Michael Dell.

Under the terms of the transaction, Dell shareholders will receive US$13.75 in cash for each share of Dell common stock, plus a special cash dividend of 13 cents per share. The total transaction is valued at about US$24.9bn.

The buyers improved their offer in August, adding at least US$350m in exchange for a modification to the shareholder voting system so that only votes cast would be counted. Previously non-voting shares would have been counted against the buyout.

Icahn on Monday (9 September) continued to criticise the proposal as under-valuing the company, but signalled an end to his campaign to derail the merger in light of the change to the voting system.

Source: AFP via I-Net Bridge

Source: I-Net Bridge

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