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The planned buyout deal for leading PC maker Dell faces fresh opposition as fellow manufacturers HP and Lenovo have expressed interest in buying the firm.
Bloomberg reports that both firms are said to be interested in buying the firm at a higher price than Dell’s original deal.
Michael Dell, founder of the firm, initially planned to buy-out the firm and take it private with a $24.4 billion bid, which was funded by himself, a number of equity firms and a loan from Microsoft.
In addition to potential bids from both HP and Lenovo, Netflix investor Carl Icahn has also reportedly voiced his opposition to the original bid.
A CNBC source believes Icahn to have collected a six per cent stake in the firm, which will be used in order to oppose Dell’s deal, instead suggesting a one-time payout to investors.
If true, Icahn’s six per cent stake would make him one of the firm’s largest exterior shareholders, which would grant him enough leverage to prevent such a deal happening.
Icahn joins a long list of Dell investors who oppose the planned deal, along with Southeastern Asset Management, which owns an 8.5 per cent stake, and T. Rowe Price, which holds an estimated 4.4 per cent stake.
Price maintains that the proposed deal "does not reflect the value of Dell" and will subsequently vote against it.
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