A Critical Appraisal of Strategic Action Plans
Michael Dell DELL -0.11% is making himself a pitchman for the $24.4 billion deal he says is needed to salvage Dell Inc.
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Color China Photo/Associated Press
Dell chief Michael Dell, right, visited a new manufacturing plant in Chengdu, China, on June 6.
The computer maker 's chief executive has barely talked publicly about the proposed deal struck in February to take Dell private—a controversial transaction that has become in part a referendum on Mr. Dell 's stewardship of the company he founded nearly 30 years ago.
On Friday, however, Mr. Dell laid out in an eight-page presentation to investors why he believes his company needs time away from the scrutiny of public shareholders to push through a corporate turnaround that so far has found a rough road.
"As a public company, we must take a more cautious approach to our transformation, because we must consider how our stock price will react to the steps we take and what effect that will have on the company and on customers and employees," Mr. Dell says in the presentation, which was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. "This hurts the speed and efficacy of the transformation and isn 't good for the long-term health of the company."
The presentation—titled "The Rationale for a Private Dell"—adds more detail to prior disclosures about pressures the company is facing. It states that the personal-computing market is deteriorating faster than expected, and Dell hasn 't yet been able to make up the difference with newer businesses selling corporate software, computing storage and other services to companies. Dell 's market share in software and services, for example, remains less than 1%, the document states. The company also is threatened by potential margin erosion from competition in sales of server systems, and the company 's share of the market for storage systems has deteriorated since Dell ended a reseller relationship with EMC Corp., EMC -1.66% it adds.
Mr. Dell said the
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Close
Color China Photo/Associated Press
Dell chief Michael Dell, right, visited a new manufacturing plant in Chengdu, China, on June 6.
The computer maker 's chief executive has barely talked publicly about the proposed deal struck in February to take Dell private—a controversial transaction that has become in part a referendum on Mr. Dell 's stewardship of the company he founded nearly 30 years ago.
On Friday, however, Mr. Dell laid out in an eight-page presentation to investors why he believes his company needs time away from the scrutiny of public shareholders to push through a corporate turnaround that so far has found a rough road.
"As a public company, we must take a more cautious approach to our transformation, because we must consider how our stock price will react to the steps we take and what effect that will have on the company and on customers and employees," Mr. Dell says in the presentation, which was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. "This hurts the speed and efficacy of the transformation and isn 't good for the long-term health of the company."
The presentation—titled "The Rationale for a Private Dell"—adds more detail to prior disclosures about pressures the company is facing. It states that the personal-computing market is deteriorating faster than expected, and Dell hasn 't yet been able to make up the difference with newer businesses selling corporate software, computing storage and other services to companies. Dell 's market share in software and services, for example, remains less than 1%, the document states. The company also is threatened by potential margin erosion from competition in sales of server systems, and the company 's share of the market for storage systems has deteriorated since Dell ended a reseller relationship with EMC Corp., EMC -1.66% it adds.
Mr. Dell said the