Icahn, Southeastern seek $7-billion loan for Dell bid

Plan to lock in financing before Dell shareholders meet in July to vote on rival take-private offer from Michael Dell and Silver Lake Partners

Activist investor Carl Icahn and Southeastern Asset Management have initiated talks with banks and asset managers to line up commitments for as much as $7 billion in bridge loans to back their leveraged recapitalisation proposal for Dell, banking sources told Thomson Reuters yesterday.

Jefferies & Co is leading the deal. Icahn and Southeastern are looking to lock in the financing before Dell shareholders meet in July to vote on a rival take-private offer from CEO Michael Dell and Silver Lake Partners. Icahn and Southeastern are seeking at least $5.2 billion and as much as $7 billion in lender commitments, sources said.

"They want the shareholders to know that they have an alternative," another source said. (DEALING WITH DELL)

Jefferies is understood to have committed $1.6 billion to the bridge loan. The arranger is asking for commitments as large as $1 billion and is expected to have lenders lined up as early as next week.

Lenders committing to the deal are being offered a fee upfront of 3.5 per cent, which is typical of these transactions. As an added sweetener, Icahn and Southeastern are also offering lenders an additional 7.5 per cent of any incremental profit the two shareholders receive if Silver Lake prevails with an increased offer.

Pricing on the loan is guided at 350bp over Libor, though pricing could change, as syndication efforts are only in the early stages, the same sources said. Jefferies and Icahn declined to comment. Calls to Southeastern and Dell were not returned.

In a May 9 letter to Dell's board, Icahn and Southeastern Asset Management, two of the company's largest shareholders, proposed an alternative to a buyout deal led by founder Michael Dell and private equity firm Silver Lake Partners. Under the Icahn proposal, shareholders could hold onto existing stock with the option of receiving either a distribution of $12 per share in cash or $12 per share in stock valued at $1.65 per share.