Dell's $30b deal opposed by major stockholder

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Dell Inc's decision to sell itself for US$24.4 billion (S$30 billion) to a group led by its founder and chief executive is being ridiculed as a rotten deal by a major shareholder who estimates the slumping personal computer maker is really worth more than US$42 billion.

The missive launched on Friday by South-eastern Asset Management Inc threatens to complicate Dell Inc's efforts to end its 25-year history as a public company. In a letter to Dell's board of directors, South-eastern chief executive O Mason Hawkins threatened to lead a shareholder mutiny unless the company came up with an alternative to the deal announced earlier this week.

A Dell spokesman declined to comment.

Mr Hawkins vowed to wield Southeastern's 8.5 per cent stake to thwart the deal currently on the table. Only Mr Michael Dell, the company's eponymous founder and chief executive, owns more stock with a roughly 14 per cent stake.