Michael Dell Looks Ready To Cross The Finish Line On September 12th With Bid To Privatize Dell Inc

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Michael Dell (L) and Carl Icahn (R) / Getty

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Well it ain’t over till the lady stops singing (we will omit the hurtful adjective “fat” usually included with this epithet), but she is certainly just about there with a very long open letter of capitulation written to Dell shareholders by Carl Icahn, salient and brief excerpts of which we publish below:

“Dear Fellow Dell Inc. Stockholders:

I continue to believe that the price being paid by Michael Dell/Silver Lake to purchase our company greatly undervalues it, among other things, because:
1. Dell is paying a price approximately 70% below its ten-year high of $42.38; and
2. The bid freezes stockholders out of any possibility of realizing Dell’s great potential.”

As a result of
1) the change in the record date allowing new stockholders to vote on the proposed Michael Dell/Silver Laketransaction on September 12th,
2) Chancellor Strine’s ruling that a gap period between the September 12th meeting and the annual meeting was legal under Delaware law and
3) the raise in the bid by Michael Dell/Silver Lake, we have determined that it would be almost impossible to win the battle on September 12th.

We have therefore come to the conclusion that we will not pursue additional efforts to defeat the Michael Dell/Silver Lake proposal, although we still oppose it and will move to seek appraisal rights.

I realize that some stockholders will be disappointed that we do not fight on.

However, over the last decade, mainly through “activism” we have enhanced stockholder value in many companies by billions of dollars. We did not accomplish this by waging battles that we thought we would lose.

Michael Dell/Silver Lake waged a hard fought battle and according to Chancellor Strine, the actions by Dell were within the Delaware law. We therefore congratulate Michael Dell and I intend to call him to wish him good luck (he may need it).”

Fair enough and a very gracious concession note indeed. Now there are no more obstacle left, the shareholders of Dell Inc. will vote finally on September 12th, 2013 on the merits of the deal. This morning Dell shares were trading at US$ 13.85, i.e. almost exactly the final bid value of US$13.88. Clearly the market fully expects the deal to go through too at this point.

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Read All  About this Battle over Dell inc. : 

• Michael Dell’s $24.8 Billion Offer To Privatize Dell Inc Finally Goes To Shareholder Vote On September 12th
•  After Delaware Legal Ruling Icahn Throws In The Towel In Dell Fight
• Behind The Scenes Maneuvers Continue As Carl Icahn Tries To Outlast Michael Dell
• Dell Inc. Cuts Revised Deal with Founder Michael Dell and Silver Lake Partners

• To Vote or Not to Vote That is Certainly The Question for Dell Shareholders Unless the Company Postpones The Vote One More Time
• Requiem Or Prologue For Dell ? Shareholders Prepare To Vote
• Dell : The Dramatic Shareholders Meeting May Be Delayed For The Second Time
• Dell Deal Delayed
• It’s Getting Messy At Dell As Carl Icahn Takes The Battle Down To The Final Whistle
•  Endgame Arrives For Dell’s Buy Out Bid: As Usual The Arbs Hold The Cards
•  Endgame Arrives For Dell’s Buy Out Bid: As Usual The Arbs Hold The Cards
•  Carl Icahn attacks the Dell takeover struggle, but from a different angle
• Carl Icahn Reportedly Building A $7 Billion War Chest To Finance His Dell Bid
• Carl Icahn attacks the Dell takeover struggle, but from a different angle
• Dell Deal With Michael Dell Goes Live Shareholders To Vote In July
• The Dell Deal Suddenly Looking Less Attractive
• Both Michael Dell And Fidelity Want To Know What Makes Rami Run?
•  Situation At Dell Becomes More Interesting As The Blackstone Group Pull Out Of The Bidding
•  Who is Rami Levy and why investors love him
• Both Michael Dell And Fidelity Want To Know What Makes Rami Run?
•  Carl Icahn Cuts Dell Some Slack As He Agrees To An Investment Cap
•  Carl Icahn Continues To Make Waves- But This Time Its Sound Waves
• Update: It Just Got More Crowded At Dell As Stephen Schwarzman’s Blackstone Joins Carl Icahn In A Bidding War.
• Icahn Set To Put A Spoke In The Wheel Of Michael Dell’s Dream Buyout