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Dell asks for more information on Icahn bid

The company has requested several items from Carl Icahn to determine if his offer is truly superior to the one presented by Silver Lake and Michael Dell.

Don Reisinger
CNET contributor Don Reisinger is a technology columnist who has covered everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Besides his work with CNET, Don's work has been featured in a variety of other publications including PC World and a host of Ziff-Davis publications.
Don Reisinger
Dell's Round Rock, Texas, headquarters.
Dell's Round Rock, Texas, headquarters. Dell

A Dell committee tasked with evaluating which buyout bid would be best for the company's shareholders is willing to give activist investor Carl Icahn more of its time.

In a letter sent to Icahn on Monday, Dell's Special Committee requested additional information regarding a memo he sent to the company on May 9 offering either $12 per share in cash or $12 in additional shares for each share currently held by stockholders. In the letter to Icahn, the committee said that it was "not clear" if his offer was "an actual acquisition proposal" or simply "an alternative that the [Dell] Board could consider in the event the pending sale to Silver Lake and Michael Dell is not approved."

To gain more insight into Icahn's offer, Dell's committee has asked for several items, including a draft of a definitive buyout agreement, information on how Icahn will finance the deal, how he plans to handle the company's cash flow after an acquisition, and who he would want to lead Dell.

Icahn has yet to respond to Dell's letter.

More to come...