News Dell goes private with Microsoft cash

[Gareth Halfacree]

Michael Dell digs his hand into his pocket.
http://www.bit-tech.net/news/hardwar...dell-private/1

[Mankz]

I see it as a good move. Without having to report to shareholders every quarter, they can spend the money where and when they need to to be innovative. This way they can post loses in two quarters, based on R&D say, and then post profits at other points, and everyone doesn't jump ship, destabilising it.

[Guinevere]

I wonder what his 'grand plan' is? Keep the focus on the enterprise sector alone? HP & IBM are still top of the game but Dell's doing okay there.

Or go for the consumer space a bit more aggressively? Dell have always been a bit... shall I say lacklustre... when it comes to selling profitable gear to the end consumer in high volumes.

[Harlequin]

the spotlight from teh stock market wouldnt help ` oh you lost 1% so your share price drops`

Apple would do well to buy back as well

[jrs77]

Best move from a company as big as Dell I've ever seen. The shareholders ruin alot of companies, or better said, the companies ruin themselves to pay higher dividends to the shareholders.

[Spraduke]

If I created a successul business I would go the route of John Lewis/Waitrose group and give a share to the staff. Guarantess hard working and loyal staff who want to see the company prosper, not some speculative city trader who decides its time to short sell your shares for no solid reason.

[Kovoet]

I only hope we do not lose our warranties though

[rollo]

Wont be the last major tech company removing themselfs from the stock market this year.

Why would warranties be affected its not like dell are going bankrupt they are just buying themselfs off the stock market.

Which as far as i can tell is only a good thing.

Means more cash for R&D projects less worrying about pleasing stupid investors who jump ship every other quater.

[Cthippo]

It seems like MS wants to become more of a hardware company than they historically have been, and this would give them something of a toehold in the consumer and enterprise markets for hardware.

[Gradius]

The title isn't correct, it appear M$ has buyed the company, but only put mere $2 billions, while the fundation put another $1 billion, where the rest comes from? Not from M$ !

[Zephyr]

Originally Posted by Gradius

The title isn't correct, it appear M$ has buyed the company, but only put mere $2 billions, while the fundation put another $1 billion, where the rest comes from? Not from M$ !

It's 2012...really with the M$? Were you born in 2000?

Good for Michael Dell. With all the speculation about Dell's future this is the most powerful political statement he can make at this time. Shareholders DO ruin companies and people very quickly forget the wins during times of loss. At this point Dell either transforms their company or goes under, and if they manage to succeed it's better for the consumer electronics industry and consumers on the whole.

I think the most interesting thing here is Microsoft's investment. It could create a massive market for a Microsoft/Dell co-marketed brand to improve Dell's corporate performance and continue with Microsoft's repositioning as something similar to Apple.

[Necrow]

Originally Posted by Zephyr

It's 2012...

You sure?

Good move by Dell, hopefully this will also drop the costs of PC's and Servers and will allow them to spend more in R&D and develop new tablets

[rollo]

Ms bearly owns 10% of the total investment.

[lacuna]

Originally Posted by rollo

Ms bearly owns 10% of the total investment.

I would say its more like 8%. As per the article.

[koola]

Will be interesting to see what perks Dell gets from MS over HP. There is bitter rivalry between the two and with MS taking a strategic share in Dell, it could well provoke more hostility between the two.

[Spreadie]

Here's hoping it works for Dell.

I wonder if this will be seen as the start of a trend, with larger companies courting private investment and shunning the panicky herd mentality of the stock market?