Arik Hesseldahl

Recent Posts by Arik Hesseldahl

Dell’s Special Committee Slams Icahn Proposals as “Inconsistent”

The special committee of Dell’s board of directors overseeing its go-private transaction today criticized a series of recapitalization proposals by the activist investor Carl Icahn and his partner Southeastern Asset Management as “lacking credibility.”

In a presentation deck made with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission this morning (and which you can read for yourself below), the committee slammed recapitalization proposals by Icahn as “inconsistent,” given the range of share prices he has specified. The committee also reiterated previous criticism that Icahn hasn’t yet lined up financing to pay for his proposals, should shareholders approve them.

In the presentation materials, prepared in advance of meetings which will take place today with the proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services, the committee once again backs the $24.4 billion leveraged buyout proposed by CEO Michael Dell and the private equity firm Silver Lake Partners. Icahn and Southeastern have been publicly opposed to the buyout. The committee defended the Dell-Silver Lake plan as “an all-cash offer at a significant, certain premium,” at the “highest price available,” after an “exhaustive process.”

Here are the slides:

Dell Special Comm Deck

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— Gitesh Pandya of BoxOfficeGuru.com comments on the dreadful opening weekend box office numbers for “The Fifth Estate.”