Deals
Dell $24.4 Billion Buyout Plan Is a Nail-Biter as Vote Looms
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When Michael Dell announced a plan in February to take Dell Inc. private, today was supposed to be anticlimactic -- the day when shareholders would easily bless the buyout of the computer maker he founded 29 years ago.
Instead, the run-up to the vote on Dell’s $24.4 billion proposal has turned into a nail-biting game of chicken that has left Dell’s side racing to lobby shareholders who consider the bid too low. Rather than ending with a victory dance for Dell, today may yield a decision to postpone the vote deadline to give him and private-equity firm Silver Lake Management LLC more time to convince investors of the merits of the leveraged buyout -- or to simply increase the $13.65-per-share bid.