Talks between Dell, the world's No. 3 computer maker, and a consortium led by its founder and chief executive, Michael Dell, to take the company private were in the final stages on Monday, a person familiar with the matter said.
An outcome is expected soon, the person said, cautioning that no final agreement had been reached and negotiations could still break down. Dell shares fell 2.6 percent to $13.27 in afternoon trading.
Microsoft Corp, which provides its Windows software for Dell computers and is also part of the investment consortium, is expected to invest around $2 billion in the deal, while private equity firm Silver Lake is expected to put in about $1 billion, the source said.
Michael Dell is expected to roll over his roughly 16 percent stake and put in some of his own money so he has control of the company, the source added. Dell and Silver Lake declined to comment and Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for a comment.
The $13.50 to $13.75 per share price range being negotiated translates into an equity valuation for Dell of between $23.5 billion to $23.9 billion. The $13.75 per share is a premium of about 23 percent to the average of $11 per share Dell traded before news of the deal talks broke and is far below the $17.61 that the shares were trading a year ago."
Source: Reuters
