Michael Dell is hitting the campaign trail.
After staying mum during the months-long battle over his namesake company, the founder of the Round Rock, Texas, PC giant finally made his pitch to investors to take the company private.
Dell, who founded the company 29 years ago in his college dorm room, is hoping to drive home the message that the ailing company is in dire straits and needs to be saved outside of the public eye.
“It will be more difficult for the company to take the steps that are needed for its transformation if we remain a public company,” he said yesterday in a presentation to investors titled “The Rationale for a Private Dell.”
With less than 30 days to go before a shareholder vote on the $24.4 billion deal, Dell is trying to persuade shareholders that remaining a public company is a recipe for capital destruction.
Shares of Dell closed down 1 cent yesterday, at $13.35 — below the $13.65-a-share proposal from Dell and private-equity firm Silver Lake Partners.
Dell’s lobbying efforts come just days after activist investor Carl Icahn revealed that he had boosted his investment in the PC maker.
Icahn is urging the company to pursue a tender offer for 60 percent of its outstanding shares at $14 a share.