Court rules Dell's $24.9 billion buyout priced 22 percent below fair value

Michael Dell and Silver Lake Partners underpriced their 2013 $24.9 billion buyout of Dell Inc by about 22 percent and may have to pay tens of millions to investors who opposed the deal for the computer maker, a Delaware judge ruled on Tuesday. The fair value of Dell's stock at the time of the buyout was $17.62 per share, not the original price of $13.75 per share, according to Delaware Vice Chancellor Travis Laster.
The 114-page ruling stems from one of the most hotly contested appraisal cases, a legal strategy that has become a popular way for specialised investment funds to squeeze added cash out of merger deals. Scores of investors who voted against the deal filed a lawsuit in Delaware's Court of Chancery, asking the court to determine the fair value of the stock.