News: Page (1) of 1 - 01/30/13

Dell founder may control PC maker after buyout-Bloomberg

US-DELL-FOUNDER:Dell founder may control PC maker after buyout-Bloomberg

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Dell Inc's founder and chief executive may pay as much as $1 billion out of his personal fortune to assume control of the world's No. 3 PC maker in a leveraged buyout, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday citing people familiar with the matter.

Michael Dell may contribute equity financing of $500 million to $1 billion in addition to his approximately 16 percent stake in Dell, worth about $3.6 billion, to push his ownership above 50 percent and have majority control, Bloomberg said.

Michael Dell's partners - private equity firm Silver Lake and giant software company Microsoft Corp - would contribute $1 billion to $2 billion each toward an equity check of $8 billion to $9 billion, Bloomberg said.

Details of the equity financing were still being finalized while making sure Dell has explored all possible alternative options, including a sale to other buyers, Bloomberg said.

Representatives of Dell, Silver Lake and Microsoft did not immediately respond to requests for a comment.

Dell has formed a special committee of its independent directors and has hired Evercore Partners Inc to assess whether the company is getting the best deal for shareholders and not one that is just in the best interest of Michael Dell, people familiar with the matter have previously told Reuters.

(Reporting by Greg Roumeliotis in New York; Editing by Maureen Bavdek)

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