Dell Inc. (DELL) agreed Tuesday to give its largest independent
shareholder, Southeastern Asset Management Inc., a list of the
computer maker's stock holders.
Southeastern has been a vocal opponent of Dell's $24.4 billion
buyout deal. Last week, Southeastern asked for the shareholder list
as part of the investment firm's effort to make a case against the
deal. Getting a list of shareholders can give Southeastern a chance
to coordinate stock holders to vote against the Dell buyout deal.
Southeastern, which owns 8.4% of Dell's total shares, is among the
investors griping the deal price of $13.65 a share is too low.
Instead, Southeastern has pushed Dell to dole out cash to the
company's stock holders and spike the buyout led by private-equity
firm Silver Lake Partners and Michael Dell, the company founder and
chief executive. A special committee of Dell's board has said it
explored a so-called leveraged recapitalization and other options
before agreeing to the $24.4 billion buyout.
In a letter dated Tuesday and disclosed in a Securities and
Exchange Commission filing, a Dell official wrote to a Southeastern
lawyer and agreed to prove a list of stockholders, in return for
Southeastern signing an agreement to keep the information
confidential.
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