Will This Fund Block Dell’s LBO?

Dell (NASDAQ:DELL) might think going private is its best chance to evolve and find its place in the new tech climate, but that doesn’t mean investors are ready to jump on-board the $24.4 billion buyout plan. Southeastern Asset Management Inc., the company’s largest independent shareholder, thinks the bid undervalues the company, a not unpopular opinion among Dell investors.

According to two separate sources, Southeastern has privately told the company that it is “disturbed” by the $13.64 per share offer, and thinks the price-tag for the world’s third-largest PC maker (by consortium) is worth somewhere more like $20 per share.

The Memphis, Tennessee-based fund, which owns a 7.5 percent stake in the company, has not commented publicly since the deal was announced on Tuesday, but CEO Mason Hawkins commented in a September 30 filing that the fund believed the company’s shares were worth something in the “low 20s” even if its personal computing business was valued at nothing. The “low 20s” is roughly what Southeastern paid for per share when it took its stake. At $13.65 per share, the fund is looking at a loss of at least $825 million, according to Sanford Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi…