Dell Inc has received two rival take-over bids to the original buyout offer from company founder Michael Dell, the world's third-largest PC maker said Monday. The Round Robin, Texas-based company said it would enter into negotiations with the new investor groups headed by Carl Icahn and Blackstone, and that chief executive Dell was open to working with third parties.
In February, Dell proposed a 24.4-billion-dollar package that offered to take private the company he founded in his dorm room in 1984 at a price of 13.65 dollars per share. The rival bid from Icahn would offer 15 dollars a share, while the Blackstone bid is valued at between 14.25 dollars and 15 dollars per share. Both packages would allow the company to remain publicly traded and would let investors retain their current holdings should they wish to do so.
"The special committee ... has determined ... that both proposals could reasonably be expected to result in superior proposals, as defined under the terms of the existing merger agreement," the company said. Alex Mandl, the chairman of the special committee of board members in charge of the negotiations, said the company would "work diligently with all three potential acquirers to ensure the best possible outcome for Dell shareholders, whichever transaction that may be." The bidding war comes as Dell and other PC makers struggle to deal with a long-term decline in PC sales as millions of potential customers stick with their existing computers or purchase tablet computers or smartphones instead.
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