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The rumor mill has once again proven to be more accurate than many would believe as PC maker Dell goes private and sends its shareholders packing in a transaction worth $24.4 billion in common stock.
Dell Inc. announced Tuesday that founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Michael Dell has teamed up with global technology investment firm Silver Lake to acquire the PC maker.
The move is ironic considering Dell’s comments in 1997 when asked how he would fix Apple, then then-ailing Macintosh computer maker.
“What would I do? I’d shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders,” Dell quipped, probably never realizing the comment would come back to bite him again all these years later.
As part of the acquisition deal, Dell is sending his own stockholders packing with $13.65 in cash for each share of common stock held, a 25 percent premium on the company’s closing stock price of $10.88 from January 11, 2013 — the last trading day prior to rumors of Dell going private first appeared.
“I believe this transaction will open an exciting new chapter for Dell, our customers and team members,” Michael Dell said in a press release. “We can deliver immediate value to stockholders, while we continue the execution of our long-term strategy and focus on delivering best-in-class solutions to our customers as a private enterprise.”
Dell, who owns 14 percent of the company’s common shares, will remain in place as the new private entity’s Chairman and CEO, maintaining “a significant equity investment” in the company he founded way back in 1984.
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