Blackstone has now put an end to its pursuit for Dell Inc. It has been reported by a number of people who are well aware of the matter. With this done, the route of the founder, Michael Dell together with his committed partner Silver Lake, has been made easy. They are now free to go ahead with their deal of about $ 24.4 billion in terms of acquiring the no.3 personal computer maker in the world.
The NY based company, Blackstone has finally placed an end to its long sought deal for the ownership of Dell. Nearly a month ago, the company had placed a challenge in front of Michael Dell in terms of acquiring the company, but it seems that they have realized it is better to let go of the challenge. All this has happened in lines to 14 % drop in the competitive PC industry for the sales of Dell products that took place in terms of the first quarter of the year 2013. Moreover, the lower levels of earning forecast which had been made from the side of Dell’s Management can also be accounted as a reason of withdrawal.
The operating income of the company has also been notched down from $ 3.6 billion to $ 3 billion. At the same time, Carl Icahn, who happens to be a significant investor of the company has also been trying to take hold of the company for long. He is against the ownership of the company being transferred to the founder, Michael Dell.
Carl has been quite engaged in terms of making a number of offers to Dell in terms of getting the ownership. Most of the analysts are of the view that the chances that Icahn would be able to take the ownership are much greater than that of Blackstone. But at the same time, the deal is also facing a major opposition from the side of a number of shareholders which also include the Southeastern Asset Management. Carl now holds nearly 8.4 % of Dell, but he is trying desperately to take a complete hold of the company. Dell had also mentioned a few days back that Icahn has agreed in terms of not increasing his stake in the company to not more than 10 % and there are chances that he might be teaming up with other shareholders.