Corporate raider Carl Icahn has raised the possibility of joining Blackstone Group in order to upset a $US24.4 billion private equity buyout bid for Dell.
In late January, SmartCompany reported Microsoft and founder Michael Dell joined a bid by private equity firm Silver Lake Capital to take the company private, with a $US24.4 billion deal struck in early February.
However, Reuters reports Blackstone and Icahn have emerged as rivals to the Silver Lake bid, with Blackstone offering $US14.25 per share while Icahn is offering $US15 per share for a 58% stake, well above the $US13.65 per share being offered by Silver Lake.
Michael Dell would contribute his 16% stake as part of the Silver Lake bid.
While Dell could support the rival bid, the matter has been complicated by reports Blackstone has made an aggressive push to recruit Oracle president Mark Hurd to run the tech giant if its bid is successful.
Andrew Sadauskas is a former journalist at SmartCompany and a former editor of TechCompany.
