Dell founder Michael Dell and investment partner Silver Lake have upped their offer to buy the company back and take it private. In a message to Dell's board of directors, the two offered to pay $13.75 per share, an increase of $0.10 over the previous offer. It may not sound like much but it equates to an additional $150 million for shareholders if they accept the deal on top of the $24.4 billion guaranteed in the other deal.
The company was expected to hold a meeting last week where shareholders would be able to vote on whether or not to accept Michael Dell's offer. That vote was ultimately postponed without a given reason although many believe the founder wasn't confident that his offer would earn enough votes to gain approval.
The most critical investor through the entire process has been Carl Icahn. It's his believe that the original deal undervalues the company. Icahn and his partners own a 13 percent stake in Dell and together, they partnered with Southeastern Asset Management to counter Michael Dell's offer.
Their offer would pay shareholders $14 per share in cash along with a single warrant for every four shares sold. Each warrant can be redeemed for one Dell share priced at $20 anytime over the next seven years. For shareholders with a significant amount of stock, this could be a very lucrative deal - especially if Dell's shares were to pass the $20 mark at any time over the next seven years.
A vote on the new proposal from Michael Dell is expected to take place August 2.