Rival Dell Buyout Plans Duke It Out 59
jfruh writes "Michael Dell's plan to take the company he founded private, with help from Microsoft, isn't going smoothly. Corporate raider and major Dell stockholder Carl Icahn has presented a rival plan that would shut Michael Dell out. Perhaps predictably, the Dell board isn't sold on Icahn's idea, saying it will leave the company short of cash, even though they haven't been able to fully evaluate it yet."
Icahn is bluffing (Score:5, Insightful)
Sounds like a Romney Style Buyout / Shakedown (Score:0, Insightful)
What kind of sleazy operator would really try to buy out a company by loading it up with debt?!
I mean, I know that Republican Presidential candidate Willard "Mitt" Romney specialized in these types of leveraged buyouts, but he left a trail of broken companies in his wake.
Seriously, after watching Mitt Romney load companies up with debt which he used to "buy" it, and then letting the company implode under the load of its debt, what serious investor could agree to such a proposal?
Re:Icahn is bluffing (Score:5, Insightful)
the original premise behind private equity was to buy a down on its luck company, fix its problems and get it profitable again. then sell it and pocket the profit on the real effort you did.
today's version is to buy up a company with low debt and strong cash flow, saddle with debt, take the cash and run. management and shareholders like it as well since they get paid too
buying up healthy companies screws the employees
Re: Purely Self-Serving (Score:5, Insightful)
Whether Michael Dell can succeed is a different matter, but he will try to turn the company around. .
Whether or not Michael Dell will successfully turn Dell around is not the question. The question is, why hasn't he done it already since he's been CEO for about 7 years. If he hasn't been able to do it in the past 7 years, why would the next 2 or 3 years be any different?
Re:all about the $$$ (Score:2, Insightful)
"Cant blame him for wanting to maximize his cash"
I sure as shit can.
Baloney. Icahn is nothing like Bain. (Score:3, Insightful)
Right, "broken companies" like Staples, Sports Authority, Domino's, Experian, etc etc. Oh wait, all of those are doing a heck of a lot better than they were before.
Bain took risky buys, companies that were failing, and turned a healthy number of them into successes. Not all their buys worked out but you don't blame the doctor by complaining that his patients have all been sick.
You know, Obama won the election; you can quit with the falsehoods and slander already as it doesn't serve any purpose any more.