Yahoo Finance Dell's $24.8bn Buyout Gets Early Approval
Dell (NasdaqGS: DELL - news) shareholders have approved a $24.8bn (£15.7bn) offer from its founder to buy the company and take it private.
The move would end the struggling computer maker's quarter-century history as a publicly held company.
At the end of a shareholder meeting, Dell officials said that based on preliminary results, the proposal had enough votes in favour of it to pass.
"I am pleased with this outcome and am energised to continue building Dell into the industry's leading provider of scalable, end-to-end technology solutions," Michael Dell, the company's chairman, CEO and founder, said in a statement.
Like other PC makers, Dell Inc has been hit hard in recent years as consumers shift their buying habits away from traditional desktops and laptops and toward tablets and other mobile devices.
Last month, Dell reported a 72% drop in profit for its most recent quarter, as the company cut prices to shore up computer sales.
Dell's stock has plunged by more than 40% since Michael Dell returned for a second stint as CEO in 2007.
Mr Dell, who made his offer with an investment group led by Silver Lake Partners, has said he can turn the company around.
But he has said the process will involve a painful realignment that is likely to trim its earnings for another year or two.
As a result, he believes the turnaround will be easier to pull off away from Wall Street and its fixation with short-term results.
The deal is expected to be completed within two months.
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