In a move that had been speculated on for weeks, Dell today announced yesterday that the company is going private. Michael Dell himself is taking the lead buying back the company from public shareholders. Dell is joined by private equity firm Silver Lake and is also receiving a $2 billion loan from Microsoft to help finance the proposed transaction.
The deal is priced at $13.65 per share, which gives Dell a valuation of $24.4 billion. Dell’s closing price on January 11st was $10.88, when rumors first surfaced about the company going private. Dell disclosed today that it formed a special committed in August of 2012 to examine and evaluate the possibility of taking Dell private. Dell’s second quarter fiscal 2012, which was reported in August, showed the company being impacted by a PC sales slump.
“Dell has made solid progress executing this strategy over the past four years, but we recognize that it will still take more time, investment and patience, and I believe our efforts will be better supported by partnering with Silver Lake in our shared vision,” Michael Dell said in a statement. “I am committed to this journey and I have put a substantial amount of my own capital at risk together with Silver Lake, a world-class investor with an outstanding reputation.”
Under terms of the current deal Michael Dell will continue as CEO and Chairman of the company and no change is expected in the company’s head office location either.
Today’s deal is by no means complete or final.
Read the full story at Datamation:
Dell Goes Private for $24.4 Billion
Sean Michael Kerner is a senior editor at InternetNews.com, the news service of the IT Business Edge Network, the network for technology professionals Follow him on Twitter @TechJournalist.
