PC-maker Dell closer to buyout deal: reports

MARKET WATCH [03/02/13]

By Kate Gibson, MarketWatch 

Dell declines to comment on ‘speculation’

Michael Dell is in talks to take his company private.  
Reuters  [SOURCE: http://www.marketwatch.com]

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Negotiations towards an agreement that could have personal-computer maker Dell Inc. going private continued this weekend and may produce an agreement as soon as Monday, according to media reports.

People familiar with the matter said Dell was moving closer to an agreement with a consortium led by Michael Dell, the company’s founder and chief executive, and private-equity firm Silver Lake Partners, Reuters reported Friday. 

“We have no comment on the speculation,” David Frink, a spokesperson for Dell, told MarketWatch on Sunday. 

The buyout group was discussing a deal to take Dell private for $13 to $14 a share, with would value the Texas company at between $22.6 billion and $24.4 billion, Reuters said. 

Silver Lake Management LLC and Microsoft Corp. might provide a portion of financing for the deal, with Michael Dell combining his 15.7% stake in the company with up to $1 billion of his own money, Bloomberg News reported.

An agreement could come as soon as Monday, according to Reuters. 

Going private would let Dell continue with less public scrutiny efforts at trying to remake itself into a provider of corporate technology as the PC market contracts. 

Kate Gibson is a reporter for MarketWatch, based in New York.