Shareholder Suit Tries To Stop Dell's $3.9 Billion Bid To Buy Perot
October 08 2009 - 7:08PM
Dow Jones News
Perot Systems Corp. (PER) shareholders have launched a bid to
halt Dell Inc.'s (DELL) recent $3.9 billion bid for the IT services
provider.
The suit, filed Monday in a Texas federal court, alleges Perot
board members and other executives failed to maximize shareholder
value and discouraged additional offers for the company before it
reached its deal with Dell. The companies Dell and Perot, plus
several Perot board members, are named defendants.
The suit seeks to halt the proposed deal until the companies
"implement a procedure providing the best possible terms for
shareholders."
"The proposed merger with Dell is the result of a hopelessly
flawed process," Perot shareholders' attorney William Federman
wrote in the lawsuit.
A Dell spokesman had no comment. A Perot spokesman couldn't be
immediately reached for comment. Perot disclosed the lawsuit in a
regulatory filing Thursday.
Dell announced the $3.9 billion deal on Sept. 21, and at the
time was paying a big premium to catch-up with tech rivals
expanding beyond their core businesses during the recession.
Dell has agreed to buy Perot for $30 per class A share- a 68%
premium from the share's closing price on the Friday before the
deal was announced.
-By Ben Charny, Dow Jones Newswires; 415-765-8230;
ben.charny@dowjones.com