Icahn demands Dell sit-down after raising readies for buyout

Investor says success of rival bid would 'reflect terribly on all involved' in latest salvo

Dell suitor Carl Icahn has confirmed he has the funding in place for his buyout bid and demanded that the Special Committee overseeing the deal "engage in a direct face-to-face meeting" with him and his backers.

In his latest open letter to Dell shareholders, the activist investor outlines that he has secured commitments for the $5.2bn (£3.4bn) in debt financing he needs to fund his proposed tender offer for the Texan vendor. Some $1.6bn is to be provided by Jefferies Finance, and the firm is currently completing the paperwork for deal, according to Icahn.

The $5.2bn in funding will be supplemented by $7.5bn of cash from the Dell balance sheet and $2.9bn from the sale of receivables, taking the total price to $15.6bn.

"With that we put an end to the unwarranted speculation by Dell that our money would not be available," writes Icahn.

His missive goes on to implore the Special Committee to meet with him and his cohorts at Southeastern Asset Management and give their offer fair consideration.

"Now that our financing is committed and in place, we call upon the Dell Special Committee to engage in a direct, face-to-face sit-down meeting with us (not through its highly paid advisers as has occurred in the past)," adds Icahn. "As always, it is our desire that our proposal be treated as a ‘superior proposal' made by an ‘excluded person' under the merger agreement, and thereby save stockholders $270m in additional break-up fees that may otherwise be claimed by Silver Lake."

He states that it would "reflect terribly on all who are involved in the process" if Michael Dell and his private equity backers Silver Lake "after purchasing shares at what we perceive to be a substantially undervalued price... earned substantial returns on their investment while other stockholders are forced to sell".

"It would be even worse if Dell were sold (or broken up) by Michael Dell and Silver Lake in a transaction or transactions with one or more strategic acquirers for a very large profit," he adds. We therefore ask the board to find our proposal to be a ‘Superior Proposal' or at the very least to change its recommendation regarding the Michael Dell/Silver Lake transaction We look forward to hearing [their] answer in the very near future."