Slashdot Mirror
Michael Dell To Buy Dell Inc.
awarrenfells writes "After a shareholder vote, Michael Dell is expected to buy out and take Dell Inc. private. This move comes in the wake of plans to move Dell into position as an enterprise computing provider, but some analysts state this move may have come too late, much of the target market being taken by IBM and HP already."
Nerval's Lobster provides some more details at Slash Cloud: "[T]he final buyout price was $13.75 a share, which includes a 13-cent-a-share “special dividend.” All told, that puts the deal’s price at $24.9 billion. In order to reach this point, Dell and Silver Lake had to fend off activist investor Carl Icahn and investment firm Southeastern Asset Management, which made their own combined play for a restructured capitalization. In a series of public letters, Icahn argued that Dell’s privatization proposal undervalued the company, and—at least until the beginning of September—made it very clear that he was willing to fight things out in court. By convincing the shareholders that his plan is the best route forward, Dell avoids what could have devolved into a very protracted and messy battle. Michael Dell wants to focus the majority of the company’s efforts on services, essentially remaking it into a tech firm more along the lines of IBM."
We need more CEOs with egos tied to their companies. At least they don't just loot them and run...
He's getting Dell.
Technoli
"Michael Dell wants to focus the majority of the company’s efforts on services, essentially remaking it into a tech firm more along the lines of IBM."
Problem is, IBM committed to that approach years ago, in a different world. I'm not sure that would work today, given how long traction would take and how things will continue to evolve in the mean time. You can't commoditize this kind of thing, after all.
I'd shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders
I work for a company that makes a Software-as-a-Service product. Our main sales channel is via OEMs like Dell. With hardware margins in the toilet the OEMs are all trying to realign themselves as 'service vendors' but they're not having much luck. It's my experience that it's very difficult to realign a sales team used to asking "Would you like a case and an SSD drive upgrade?" to one that sells high-margin services. The type of salesperson you need is much more expensive & sophisticated. You need to invest millions in training, marketing and support. Can be done of course (witness IBM) but it's a long, expensive process.
Now YOU control the destiny of DELL, as it should be (like Microsoft &/or Ford Motor Inc. - they're examples of companies where the ownership NEVER LOST CONTROL, because THEIR NAMES WAS ON IT
Hey Anonymous Coward, what the hell are you talking about? Microsoft and Ford are publicly-traded companies. Ford's CEO is Alan Mulally - Best known for creating the 777 for Boeing.
Not sure how they are now but if you are just running Linux/windows I found them fine and their support was good (in europe at the time anyways).
That's the problem. They are a "fine" player in a commodity market with declining volumes. They made a couple of half-hearted attempts at other markets: personal organizers, re-badged iPods, phones, reselling TVs, etc. But their margins will always reflect their business model, and they have chosen a very low-margin model. In other words, they kind of won the race to the bottom. I'll miss them if they exit the PC market - I think competition is a great thing, even if I was unwilling to hold their shares any longer.
W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
Ah yes, who will ever forget the great tycoon Bob Microsoft.
We need more CEOs with egos tied to their companies. At least they don't just loot them and run...
I get the sentiment and there is a degree of truth there but here is a counterexample: Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC
Always practice due diligence. Even if someone's name is on the sign, even if the founders are still running the place.
Well, actually the names got accidentally reversed by a city clerk: The guy's real name was Microsoft Bob.
I am officially gone from
Speaking of which, Steve Jobs must be laughing in his tomb. Dell should "re-embourse the shareholders and close the shop".
While he is returning money to shareholders he is not shutting down Dell. Its going private, its not going to be beholden to the quarterly desires of Wall Street. Dell is probably better of this way.
I'd shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders
Yeah! Those 109,000 employees can just go fuck themselves.
http://news.cnet.com/2100-1001-203937.html
And at the Gartner Symposium and ITxpo97 here today, the CEO of competitor Dell Computer added his voice to the chorus when asked what could be done to fix the Mac maker. His solution was a drastic one.
"What would I do? I'd shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders," Michael Dell said before a crowd of several thousand IT executives.
I'm sure Michael Dell really really cared about those thousands of Apple employees too. No one is shutting down, but as a high-profile public figure, he ought to have thought twice before he said shit that was destined come back to bite him.
Make sure everyone's vote counts: Verified Voting