Comments on: Dell buyout just got (much) more complicated

By: MM

MM — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 07:22:08 +0000

This sounds like Yahoo declining Microsoft. Icahn was involved there too. How did that workout for Yahoo & Carl?

By: jhesr

jhesr — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 20:57:10 +0000

It could be D, but it could also be B…

How about, B. Oracle buys Dell and Larry Ellison can finally take on IBM.

It could be Larry Ellison’s crowning achievement. It would be his legacy.

By: jhesr

jhesr — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 20:53:28 +0000

Yes, and the purchase of Sun has been a total disaster. Oracle’s hardware business has been going down like the titanic ever since they purchased it.

Larry Ellison obviously wants to transform Oracle into a hardware company that compete with IBM. He tried and failed by buying Sun.

Now he has a second chance to try it again by buying Dell. If Larry Ellison buys Dell then he will have a much better shot at achieving his dream than he did when he bought Sun (which turned out to be a total failure).

Oracle + Dell > IBM ???

By: Jeff

Jeff — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 20:38:22 +0000

Long time shareholder of Dell and although I would hope the stock would someday go above $20 when would that have actually happened had this proposed buyout never materialized? This stock has been beaten down to sub $10 levels and now we hear things like this offer is too low?

Hear is my question for Mr. Icahn. If $13.65 is considered too cheap and the offer is declined by shareholders while at the same time Michael Dell and Silver Lake’s financial advisor’s say the math does not work out at any offer higher than the current one and advises them to back out of the deal then what? To make this easy I will offer a multiple choice:
A. The stock surges past current trading levels to near $20 levels
B. Another prospective buyer waiting in the wings swoops in with an offer of $13.75 hoping for a board and shareholder approval?
C. Nothing, Dell stays a publicly traded company and the stock maintains current trading levels
D. The stock quickly returns to pre-offer levels of nine bucks and change, the outlook according to analysts is bleak and Dell is predicted to continue to struggle under current operating conditions.
I am going to go out on a limb and pick D. Now how do all of these optimistic shareholders fell?

By: TS

TS — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 19:14:39 +0000

@jhesr,

You do realize that Oracle already owns Sun – who produce server hardware?

By: Barb Darrow

Barb Darrow — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 18:55:16 +0000

I think my head just exploded.

By: jhesr

jhesr — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 18:23:50 +0000

Maybe Oracle will buy Dell?

Just basing this off of the other article, about Oracle and its desire to become a hardware company. Maybe Oracle will see this as a second chance to break into hardware.

I think Dell would be a much better acquisition than Sun, which has been a total disaster.

Larry Ellison may have a second chance at achieving his dream of taking on IBM in both software and hardware.

Oracle + Dell > IBM ???

By: jhesr

jhesr — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 18:17:19 +0000

If I was a Dell shareholder I would be very happy that Carl Icahn has gotten involved. What Carl Icahn is proposing, a one time $9 dividend, sounds a lot better than letting Michael Dell buy the company at a very cheap price and then do the same exact thing, except only for his benefit.

If Michael Dell thinks a leveraged buyout is a good idea, and he should know as the CEO, then it should also be a good idea if done as a public company. The long suffering investors of Dell should get to participate in the upside, not get screwed out of it by people that are supposed to be looking out for the shareholder’s best interests!

It is not fair how corporate insiders like Michael Dell try to rig the game in their favor at the expense of retail investors.

I hope Carl Icahn is able to win this fight.