Michael Dell vows to stay on if buyout plan fails

But he would not support recapitalisation and sale of assets favoured by some shareholders

Michael Dell plans to stay on at his eponymously named firm even if his buyout proposal that is set to be voted on this Friday fails.

In an emailed interview with the Wall Street Journal today, Dell indicated he would not desert the firm he founded in 1984 if his beefed up $13.75-a-share offer - which is backed by private equity firm Silver Lake - is rejected by shareholders.

However, in this event he would "not support the kind of recapitalisation and sale of assets some shareholders are suggesting", he added.

A vote on Dell's future, which has already been postponed twice, is set to take place this Friday.

A potential spanner in the works for Michael Dell is rival bidder Carl Icahn, who is determined to keep the company in public ownership via a self-tender proposal he claims offers shareholders a potential return of $15.50 to $18 a share.

Dell - the man - is also seeking a rule change on how votes are counted, arguing that Icahn is currently in a position to exert undue influence over whether his offer is blocked.

"Based on the number of shares currently voting on the deal, it only takes about 23 per cent of the outstanding shares to block the transaction," he explained to the WSJ.

"This is an unfair result that does not accurately reflect what the shareholders want."

Michael Dell last week upped his offer to $13.75-a-share and used the WSJ interview to reiterate that this is "our best and final offer".

"The fact that many parties over many months looked at this company and were not willing to pay more than $13.65 per share made it hard to justify an increase," he said.

He added: "If the deal does not go through, I plan to stay and continue to do my best to make the company successful. I will not support the kind of recapitalisation and sale of assets some shareholders are suggesting. Given where we are today, I believe the challenges we would face as a public company, including a potential proxy fight, would be significant. But I am ready to fight and I am committed to doing what I believe is right for the company."