Michael Dell’s scheme to take the company he started in his dorm room 30 years ago private for $13.65 a share got backing Monday from Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), the biggest of the shareholder advisory firms.
The news, which represents a sudden about-face for ISS compared to its position last week according to Bloomberg, didn’t come a moment too soon.
Last Friday word leaked out that Michael and private equity house Silver Lake Partners refused to up the original $24.4 billion bid although the board’s special committee, responsible for weighing offers for the company, recommended a sweetener. As a result Dell shares dropped to $13.03 on fears the proposal might fall apart.
Now the committee has gotten behind the ISS recommendation.