On Friday, we heard that the Dell buyout saga could come to an end on Monday. According to Reuters, the agreement was set to be finalized over the weekend, and an announcement made yesterday. The expected announcement, in case you haven't been following, was that Michael Dell would take majority ownership of the struggling company using a personal investment while Silver Lake and Microsoft will become minority investors. As you may have noticed, we haven't seen any such announcement just yet.
Today, Bloomberg reports that the Dell board met last night to vote on the company's future. Citing two people familiar with the matter, the news outlet says an announcement may come as early as this morning. Speaking to Bloomberg, these sources said Silver Lake Management would invest more than $1 billion in the buyout, while Mircorosft would invest about $2 billion. For his part, Michael Dell, who wants to take the company back private, would contribute $700 million along with his his 15.7 percent stake in the company. The deal is said to value Dell at between $13.50 and $13.75 per share, much lower than the rumored $15 to $16 per share we heard about last week.
By going private, Dell will will be able to transform itself from a struggling consumer desktop maker to a "one-stop shop for corporate technology needs" without the approval of publicly-held stock owners. But Dell is still looking out for those who invested in the company by hiring Evercore Partners and forming a special committee of its independent directors. These two entities will make sure shareholders are getting the best deal, and that the transaction isn't focused on what's best for Michael Dell.
We'll keep you posted on any developments.
