A little over two weeks ago rumors surfaced that Dell was interested in going private. At the time we were hearing that private-equity firm Silver Lake Partners was heavily involved in the negotiations alongside company founder Michael Dell.
Now Bloomberg is reporting that Michael Dell could use between $500 million and $1 billion of his own money combined with his nearly 16 percent stake in the company to gain majority control of the PC maker. That would put his total investment into the $8 billion to $9 billion deal at more than half.
The rest of the buyout, according to sources, would be financed by debt or maybe even more of Michael Dell’s cash. As of September 30, he reportedly had around $11 billion in cash at his disposal.
If you recall, Microsoft is also reportedly showing interest as in investor. Reports surfaced claiming Redmond could be prepared to pump between $1 billion and $3 billion into the deal but as the Wall Street Journal is now reporting, Microsoft’s role in the new company has been a bit of a road block in the negotiations. That’s because Microsoft allegedly wants to have some say in Dell’s daily operations rather than just being a financial backer.
The former top PC maker has, much like many others in the industry, fallen on hard times as of late due to declining interest in traditional computers. Many analysts believe the company could regain some footing if they were able to go private and restructure the business without having to keep shareholders happy.
https://www.techspot.com/news/51494-michael-dell-to-seek-majority-control-in-buyout-bid.html
