Michael Dell and Silver Lake
Partners have increased their buyout offer for Dell Inc. to $13.75 per share,
up from $13.65. The increased offer is being split between the parties and has
been submitted as their “best and final” offer. The announcement came just before
a shareholder vote that has now been pushed back until next Friday.
The increased offer is
indicative that Michael Dell and Silver Lake could not secure enough
shareholder votes supporting their original bid of $13.65 submitted in
February. Their increased offer comes after a planned vote last Thursday was postponed
in order for Mr. Dell and Silver Lake to try and secure support from
shareholders who had not submitted proxies.
About 27 percent of the possible
votes abstained from last week’s vote, a much higher number than the 12 to 15
percent expected. Abstentions in this process count as “no” votes, but as a
condition of the increased offer, Mr. Dell and Silver Lake required that
abstentions no longer be considered as part of the vote. Mr. Dell is still not
allowed to vote his shares.
There
has been no official response yet from Carl Icahn, who has offered a buyout of
$14.00 per share self-tender incumbent upon installing a new board of
directors.