Dell reportedly in talks to take company private
Struggling PC maker Dell is reportedly in talks with at least two private-equity firms to take the company private.
Dell's alleged talks were first reported on Monday by Bloomberg, which cited two unnamed people familiar with the matter. Shares of the company surged more than 12 percent in afternoon trading in response to the report.
Though Dell is reportedly exploring the option of going private, the move is not a done deal. The talks are said to be "preliminary," and may fall apart.
While the PC market continues to struggle, Dell has a net cash balance of $5.15 billion, giving it an opportunity for a leveraged buyout.
The latest data from Gartner forecast Dell's U.S. PC shipments to have dropped 16.5 percent in the holiday quarter that concluded 2012. Those losses came despite the recent launch of Microsoft's new Windows 8 operating system.
Beyond Dell, the larger PC market has also struggled in recent years. Those woes are partially attributed to Apple's iPad, which dominates the tablet market.
In fact, this year tablet shipments are expected to surpass those of notebook PCs. NPD DisplaySearch expects that 240 million tablets will be shipped in 2013, compared to 207 million notebooks.
Dell's alleged talks were first reported on Monday by Bloomberg, which cited two unnamed people familiar with the matter. Shares of the company surged more than 12 percent in afternoon trading in response to the report.
Though Dell is reportedly exploring the option of going private, the move is not a done deal. The talks are said to be "preliminary," and may fall apart.
While the PC market continues to struggle, Dell has a net cash balance of $5.15 billion, giving it an opportunity for a leveraged buyout.
The latest data from Gartner forecast Dell's U.S. PC shipments to have dropped 16.5 percent in the holiday quarter that concluded 2012. Those losses came despite the recent launch of Microsoft's new Windows 8 operating system.
Beyond Dell, the larger PC market has also struggled in recent years. Those woes are partially attributed to Apple's iPad, which dominates the tablet market.
In fact, this year tablet shipments are expected to surpass those of notebook PCs. NPD DisplaySearch expects that 240 million tablets will be shipped in 2013, compared to 207 million notebooks.
Comments
Up 15% earlier today. Now up 13%.
Is the main reason so they can keep just how bad they are doing from the public?
I think that's about the amount of cash Apple had on hand when Jobs took over.
PS: PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE NO ONE QUIP WHAT MICHAEL DELL SHOULD DO WITH THE COMPANY. WE HAVE HEARD IT FOR A DECADE NOW SINCE APPLE WAS RISING AND DELL WAS FALLING.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SolipsismX
PS: PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE NO ONE QUIP WHAT MICHAEL DELL SHOULD DO WITH THE COMPANY. WE HAVE HEARD IT FOR A DECADE NOW SINCE APPLE WAS RISING AND DELL WAS FALLING.
Oh, c'mon... what fun is that.
It's very tempting!
Quote:
Originally Posted by SolipsismX
PS: PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE NO ONE QUIP WHAT MICHAEL DELL SHOULD DO WITH THE COMPANY. WE HAVE HEARD IT FOR A DECADE NOW SINCE APPLE WAS RISING AND DELL WAS FALLING.
OK, but does anyone have a link to the Muhammad Ali ad?
So,
Lenovo copies the MBP and other designs and is rising,
Hp copies the MBP in a disgusting way (envy lol) and is rising,
Asus copies the air and other designs and is rising,
Samsung copies the air, the mini, etc and is rising,
Meanwhile, when Dell was trying to up their game (they even launched a phone..) and stoping making crap, supports ubuntu, etc, the marketplace and IT world doesn't care, because it isn't neither cheap or Apple clones.
The WIntel and IT world must disappear, they feed each other. Only Apple and maybe Google can change it.
It's a bit unfair when you put it that way but if you look at the natural world that seems to be the order of things.
Their sales didn't really fall that much last quarter, but I think the trendline makes their future quite obvious. They are not a player in the phone or tablet space and their share of the PC market is deteriorating. Taking them private would maximize their current value and Dell himself could retire.
Tough. He got the second part done, all Dell needs to do is act on the first part.
[VIDEO]
link
Quote:
Originally Posted by SolipsismX
link
And, just in case anyone has trouble making out the dialog,
Quote:
Back up sucker! Back up. Come get me sucker, I'm dancing, I'm dancing! Follow me! No, I'm not there, I'm here! Whup. Here! Here! You out, sucker!
I am glad to hear Dell is struggling...it's been many years with the world being suckered into their cheap-o machines and second-rate hardware...a company that lacks no originality or ingenuity in their design...a wintel money-machine going down. This makes me very happy.
WWMDD: What would Michael Dell do ?
"What would I do? I'd shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders," Michael Dell said before a crowd of several thousand IT executives.
taking a stock private is done when the stock is believed to be under appreciated by the Market... When does Apple do the same? Then all those stock manipulators won't have Apple to kick around anymore ;-)
I would shut Dell down and give the money to its shareholders...
I think if I were Michael Dell wouldn't take my own advice (as given to Apple) rather I'd take the advice of a certain Steve Miller Band hit ...
You're not the boss of me. /s
Apple's success since the NeXT merger really was the best "revenge" Steve and Apple had on all the naysayers, doom prophets, and pundits who were saying stuff like this back in the 90s. They are all Mac users now.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SolipsismX
Is the main reason so they can keep just how bad they are doing from the public?
I think that's about the amount of cash Apple had on hand when Jobs took over.
PS: PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE NO ONE QUIP WHAT MICHAEL DELL SHOULD DO WITH THE COMPANY. WE HAVE HEARD IT FOR A DECADE NOW SINCE APPLE WAS RISING AND DELL WAS FALLING.
When Michael said that, I knew people who had worked for dell and they knew was an Apple person they sent me that quote and attempted to abuse me at the time. I simple said Michael may live to regret those words.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SolipsismX
Is the main reason so they can keep just how bad they are doing from the public?
I think that's about the amount of cash Apple had on hand when Jobs took over.
PS: PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE NO ONE QUIP WHAT MICHAEL DELL SHOULD DO WITH THE COMPANY. WE HAVE HEARD IT FOR A DECADE NOW SINCE APPLE WAS RISING AND DELL WAS FALLING.
Maybe HP is interested. It might help HP get some customers.
Actually, its pretty grim for corporations to buy PCs, what are their choices? HP, Dell, Lenovo and a bunch Asian PC companies that are used to selling to consumers rather than corporations.
What a mess. Maybe Microsoft will buy them and turn themselves into a PC mfg and then rear end HP and all of the Asian companies by closing off Microsoft WIndows from being sold as an OEM, install on clone computer OSs, so they have to go only through Microsoft to buy hardware/software.