Carl Icahn raises stake in Dell to block management plan in worsening dispute

Billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn increased his stake in Dell tracking stock to 8.3% as he tries to block a plan by the management of Dell Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:DELL) to return to the public market without an IPO, a report by Reuters said.

Dell had said in July it would pay $21.7 billion in cash and stock to buy back shares tied to its interest in software company VMware Inc. Hedge fund investors led by Icahn have resisted the plan because they believe the deal significantly undervalues the tracking stock.

A tracking stock depends on the financial performance of a specific business unit or operating division of a company, rather than the operations of the issuing entity as a whole.

“The Dell Tracker currently sells for approximately $92 per share but is worth on a pure mathematical basis approximately $144 per share,” Icahn, the chairman of Icahn Enterprises L.P., said.

“I intend to do everything in my power to STOP this proposed DVMT merger,” Icahn said in an open letter to stockholders. “It is better to have peace than war, but be assured, I still enjoy a good fight for the right reasons.”

There was no immediate reaction from Dell, according to the Reuters report.

READ: Dell Technologies’s Pivotal Software unit aims to raise as much as US$592mln in IPO

Shares of Dell were up 1.06% in Monday’s premarket to $95.50, having ended on Friday up 3.01% at $94.50.

Elliott Management Corp and Canyon Capital Advisors LLC also resisted the effort by Dell to buy back the tracking stock from them, saying Dell’s offer discounts the tracking stock’s value.

Icahn had owned 1.2% of the Dell tracking stock but raising his stake would make him the second largest shareholder in the Dell tracking stock.

Icahn said the best way forward would be to offer a competing partial bid that provides partial liquidity without forcing a merger, adding that he was looking at interested parties, including financing sources, who may want to finance such a bid, the Reuters report said.

Reporting by Rene Pastor, contactable on [email protected]

Story by ProactiveInvestors