January 15, 2013, 4:18 PM — With buyout talks gaining steam, analysts say Dell Inc. could be looking to free itself from quarterly distractions and shareholder pressures - a move they said could be good for the world's No. 3 PC maker.
"I can see where it would look like an attractive option," said Dan Olds, an analyst with The Gabriel Consulting Group. "A private company doesn't have to answer to Wall Street every quarter, and can make bigger moves, faster, than a company that has to run every decision through a board of directors or major shareholders."
Dell is reportedly in the midst of preliminary talks about a leveraged buyout with private equity firms, according to The Wall Street Journal.
A leveraged buyout would take Dell, which has been public for about 25 years, back to being a private company. CEO and founder Michael Dell, who reportedly already owns 15.7%% of Dell shares, would need to put together the financials to buy back the company's stock.
Dell declined to comment on the spate of recent reports.
The company has been suffering through the struggling PC market, which has been continually hammered for the past year or more by the sluggish economy and the burgeoning tablet market.
In the fall of 2011, Dell slipped from what had once been a solid number two spot in the PC market, and was surpassed by Lenovo. Dell now still sits in third place, with 10.2% of worldwide market share. It's barely ahead of number four Acer Group, which has 9.5% of market share.
"The bottom line is that if they go private, then they would be relieved from the shareholder pressures," said Gartner analyst Mikako Kitagawa. "This would make Dell more competitive on pricing in PC market. The PC industry is a high-volume and low-profit business, which is not always suitable for Wall Street expectations."
Kitagawa added that Dell can make moves to revitalize the business without worrying about keeping share olders happy.
Patrick Moorhead, an analyst with Moor Insights & Strategy, said a return to private status could make it easier to push through mergers and acquisitions.
