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Microsoft May Invest $1B-$3B In Dell Buyout
alexander_686 writes "We heard that Dell is in buyout talks with private equity firms. Now, the word is that Microsoft may invest one to three billion dollars in that buyout. For that amount of money, Microsoft isn't going for majority ownership, but it would be a significant stake. Dell is worth around $22-25 billion. Speculation is that investors would put up $5-7 billion in equity, borrowing the rest. As a point of reference, Michael Dell's stock is worth $3.6 billion."
HP is going in the toilet and keeps talking up the post-PC world, taking a page from Apple's playbook. HP Servers are still a great product, but if HP goes under, the Dell becomes almost the lone supplier of Windows enterprise hardware.
Dell has embraced Linux more and more over the years. And they haven't been pushing Windows 8 tablets as much as other companies. Microsoft needs strong hardware partners to push their ecosystem.
If Dell is suddenly controlled by new investors, you have to wonder what direction they'd take the company. It makes sense for Microsoft to want some say in Dell's future to protect their own interests.
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"Just sayin'."
When you absolutely, positively want to make sure people reading your post know you are a retard with nothing of value to add.
"What would I do? I'd shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders,"