Blackstone Group is ending its offer for control of Dell, citing a 14-percent drop in PC sales for the first quarter of 2013 and a lower earnings forecast for the current financial year. The withdrawal of Blackstone leaves founder Michael Dell and equity partner Silver Lake to fight with Carl Icahn for ownership of the PC manufacturer.
In a preliminary proxy statement issued to shareholders on Friday, Dell warned that it would be a risky path for the company to take a lot of debt and remain public, assuming existing profit levels and market trends remain the same. The 274-page statement informs Dell shareholders of how the Silver Lake Partners deal was assembled, and why it feels the deal is the best of all the alternatives before the shareholders.
Since September, Yahoo has been searching for potential buyers for itself. Although there have been many potential suitors, with no apparent deal close at hand, the company is now refocusing itself on permanently filling the CEO slot, which has been vacant since Carol Bartz was fired abruptly three months ago. All Things D, citing its sources, claims that Yahoo's board is looking at Hulu's CEO Jason Kilar.
The latest bidder in the potential Yahoo takeover is Thomas H. Lee Partners, Reuters learned. THL is said to be looking at a leveraged buyout of Yahoo's US business, which could be worth between $5 and $6 billion. THL has run other media companies such as Nielsen Co, Clear Channel, and Univision.
Microsoft's rumored new attempt at buying Yahoo might just be a minority, non-exclusive stake, insiders reportedly slipped out Monday night. The Windows developer would be just one of multiple companies, including financial backers at Silver Lake and Andreessen Horowitz, aiming to buy a 20 percent stake in Yahoo. The New York Times in leaking details understood that offers had to be in by the end of Monday and could be discussed this week.
Yahoo will work with Goldman Sachs to help it defend a takeover bid, unnamed sources said in a Bloomberg Thursday report. While no bids have yet been made, AOL has been rumored to be putting together an offer. Private equity firms, bankers and some Yahoo investors have also been trying to takeover Yahoo with the help of AOL of News Corp, the sources said.
