As the vote approaches on Michael Dell's joint offer with Silver Lake Partners to take Dell, Inc private, two more large stockholders have lined up to cast their ballots against the deal. The Wall Street Journal reports that Vanguard Group, State Street Corp, and BlackRock Inc, which together own 11.5 percent of Dell Inc's stock, will oppose the Dell/Silver Lake offer of $13.65 a share.
If the three investment companies join the existing opponents to the deal, that will bring the shares opposing Michael Dell's plans to take the company private to nearly 30 percent. To overcome that voting block, Dell will need those who hold at least 42 percent of the remainder of the company's stock to vote with him. Southeastern Management, which owns 8.5 percent of Dell, is another major institutional shareholder opposing the deal.
There are several opposing offers being presented for Dell, including one from infamous corporate raider Carl Icahn's hedge fund. Today, Icahn told an audience at CNBC's Delivering Alpha conference that he wants to take control of Dell himself. "The most money I've made is when I control companies and get into them," he said.
The vote on the buyout offer is scheduled for Thursday. But Dell's board of directors is rumored to be moving to delay the vote in an effort to line up more support for the deal.
Update: This morning, Dell's board voted to "adjourn" the vote on the offer, rescheduling it for July 24.
reader comments
59