Dell may be looking to go private, as the company has been participating in buyout talks with Silver Lake Partners, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.
The publication, citing a person familiar with the matter, reports that discussions took place on Tuesday for “a leveraged buyout at around $13 to $14 a share,” and that the buyout group would include Silver Lake in addition to at least one other investor “such as a pension or sovereign wealth fund, and Mr. Dell.”
The source reportedly also said that the group would need to arrange $2 billion in equity, and Michael Dell would “likely put his stock toward the deal” (worth at least $3.6 billion). “The group would also use some cash on Dell’s balance sheet, while taking on new debt of about $15 billion, to meet an equity purchase price of roughly $22 billion to $25 billion,” says the report. “The person said advisers are trying to bring the negotiations to a close quickly, either way.”
According to Fortune, TPG Capital was also in talks with Dell, but has walked away from the talks (but was working independently). That report cites multiple sources.
Dell shares are trading at $12.58 (-0.59, -4.47%) at the time of this writing.