In a latest development, two institutional shareholders of Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL) said Friday that they continue to oppose a proposed buyout offer from Silver Lake Partners and Michael Dell to take the company private. The private equity firm Silver Lake Partners and the PC maker’s founder Michael Dell have proposed to pay the public shareholders $13.65 per share, which values the deal at $24.4 billion.
The two investors opposing the deal are Pzena Investment Management, Inc. (NYSE:PZN) and Yacktman Asset Management L.P. Both the institutional shareholders told the Wall Street Journal that they haven’t changed their mind even after The Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE:BX) withdrew its $25 billion offer.
Donald Yacktman, the head of Yacktman Asset Management L.P., said that Silver Lake and Michael Dell’s offer is not in the best interest of shareholders. Yacktman said that a successful rival deal is unlikely without the backing of the company founder Michael Dell, but he thinks there will always be other alternatives. Yacktman Asset Management owns 14.9 million shares of Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL) as of December 31, which account for about 1 percent of the Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL) total outstanding shares.
Pzena Investment Management, Inc. (NYSE:PZN) holds 12.7 million Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL) shares, or 0.7 percent stake in the company. The investment firm’s founder Richard Pzena said that shareholders should be given a choice as to whether or not they want to sell their stakes. The Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE:BX) bid proposed to let investors retain some part of their stock ownership. Investor Carl Icahn, who is also in the race of acquiring Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL), has proposed to give shareholders an option to keep some of their shares.
Latest Development
GE Capital CFO Keith Sherin said in a statement today that GE Capital is still interested in acquiring the financing division of Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL). GE Capital was planning to buy the financing arm of Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL) for about $5 billion if The Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE:BX) acquired Dell Inc. But now GE Capital remains interested even after The Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE:BX) has dropped its offer.
Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL) shares were down 3.69 percent to $13.44 at 3:25 PM EDT.
