Private Equity & Venture Capital

Many people have assumed that Blackstone's preliminary proposal to lead a leveraged buyout of Dell, one that leaves a public stub, has for the most part been taken seriously. That Michael Dell himself is contemplating a switch from Silver Lake to Blackstone would appear to be a confirmation of this.

In the aftermath of what appears to be a successful go-shop period, it's clear that Michael Dell will do whatever it takes to preserve his role as the only CEO his company has ever known.

In the still-unfolding Dell buyout drama, the board's special committee, which was set up to evaluate bids, has no choice but to go overboard in its efforts to find the best possible deal. It has every reason to be transparent about its efforts to. The last thing it wants is to leave itself open to charges that it was somehow less than vigilante in this task.

Without question, any company offering to buy Dell will gain an advantage if they could persuade founder Michael Dell to join their cause. For now, he remains aligned with Silver Lake and Microsoft, though the conventional wisdom holds that he's amendable to switching sides and joining Blackstone if that will increase his chances at taking his company private.