Dell buyout vote delay would not lead to higher offer: Sources

Mr Michael Dell, chairman and chief executive of Dell Inc, arrives at the launch event of Windows 8 operating system in New York on October 25, 2012. Mr Dell and his private equity partner Silver Lake would decline to raise their US$24.4 billion (S$3
Mr Michael Dell, chairman and chief executive of Dell Inc, arrives at the launch event of Windows 8 operating system in New York on October 25, 2012. Mr Dell and his private equity partner Silver Lake would decline to raise their US$24.4 billion (S$30.8 billion) bid for the world's No. 3 PC maker even if a vote on their offer is delayed, two people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. -- FILE PHOTO: REUTERS

(REUTERS) - Dell Inc chief executive Michael Dell and his private equity partner Silver Lake would decline to raise their US$24.4 billion (S$30.8 billion) bid for the world's No. 3 PC maker even if a vote on their offer is delayed, two people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

Dell may decide to delay a shareholder vote scheduled for Thursday, July 18, on the offer as the company's special board committee now sees the outcome as too close to call, a person familiar with the matter said earlier on Tuesday.

With a nearly 16 per cent stake in Dell and ties going back three decades to the creation of the company out of his college dorm room, Mr Michael Dell is seen as having much more at stake in the deal going through than Silver Lake, a financial investor that often walks away from deals it deems to make no sense.

But the two people with knowledge of Mr Michael Dell's and Silver Lake's plans said on Tuesday that any decision to increase the offer would be taken jointly and that both parties have decided there will not be any bump in their US$13.65 per share offer.

The people asked not to be identified because their deliberations are private. Spokespeople for Dell and its special board committee did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Silver Lake declined to comment.

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