Dell Inc to go private in $24.4 billion deal, Michael, Silver Lake pay $13.65 per share, Microsoft $2 bn

Slumping personal computer maker Dell is bowing out of the stock market in a $24.4 billion buyout that represents the largest deal of its kind since the Great Recession dried up the financing for such risky maneuvers.

The complex agreement announced Tuesday will allow Dell Inc.'s management, including eponymous founder Michael Dell, to attempt a company turnaround away from the glare and financial pressures of Wall Street.

Dell stockholders will be paid $13.65 per share to leave the company on its own. That's 25 percent more than the stock's price of $10.88 before word of the buyout talks trickled out three weeks ago. But it's a steep markdown from the shares' price of $24 six years ago when Michael Dell returned for a second go-round as CEO.

Dell shares rose 14 cents to $13.41 in afternoon trading, indicating that investors don't believe a better offer is likely.

The chances of a successful counter offer look slim, given the forces lined up behind the current deal.

Michael Dell, the company's largest shareholder, is throwing in his 14 percent stake and an undisclosed sliver of $16 billion fortune to help finance the sale to a group led by the investment firm Silver Lake.

"We recognize that (transformation) will still take more time, investment and patience, and I believe our efforts will be better supported by partnering with Silver Lake in our shared vision,'' Michael Dell said in a statement.

Software maker Microsoft, which counts Dell among its biggest customers, is backing the deal by lending $2 billion to the buyers. The remaining money to pay for the acquisition is being borrowed through loans arranged by several banks, saddling Dell with an estimated $15 billion in debt that could raise doubts about its financial stability among its risk-averse corporate customers.

The sale is structured as a leveraged buyout, which requires the acquired company to repay the debt taken on to finance the deal.

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