Dell LBO Model

If you work (or follow) Wall Street you know the most talked about deal in town right now is the potential Dell buyout by Silver Lake Partners together with Founder Michael Dell, who holds 15.7% of the company.

Andrew Bary argued in Barron's Sat. January 19th "How to Give Dell''s Shareholders a Fair Deal" that

a buyout at $14/ share amounts to insiders trying to steal the company
which is the conclusion that a $14-$15/sh. buyout substantially undervalues the company expected to earn $1.70/sh in its current fiscal year. It seems the race is heating up with Dell reportedly hiring Evercore Partners to search for alternative suitors, Bloomberg LP reported.

If you look at the oversimplified LBO model enclosed, at around $15.40 (only a 20% premium, a very low and unlikely premium) notice a Buyer would get a very hefty IRR of 28% on a one-year exit (atypical and unlikely, for illustration purposes only). Normally a PE buyer holds a business for three to seven years. I assumed 65% Debt to 35% Equity buyout formula and likely overcalculated the cost of borrowing, which in recent deals hovered around Libor + 350 b.p., even less.

An all-equity buyout, on the other hand, would give a buyer only a 12% IRR (after exiting in 12-months, as stated, for simplicity purposes).

Whether this deal gets done or not it remains to be seen-there are value investors involved (Southern Asset Management, Dodge &Cox), activists (Dan Loeb, Bill Ackman, Carl Icahn).

The deal is entirely doable, at least on paper. Valuewalk:

– Under the assumption that Dell repatriates foreign cash (and pays taxes), analysts put together a multi-scenario analysis with various levels of equity and debt raised in differing financial performance scenarios. They believe a transaction is do-able on paper, from a balance sheet capacity, interest coverage and leverage standpoint, but its challenge is deal size and the large capital amount required to execute this transaction.

JP Morgan is advising Dell.

Attachment Size
DellBuyout.xls 20.5 KB 20.5 KB
7 Comments
 
Best Response

Few huge assumptions that your model hinges on: - international cash is repatriated with minimal tax consequences - EBITDA growth of 4.7% - 20% premium

I think those three assumptions might be a little aggressive, and I think for Silverlake to be taking on a deal this size for mid-20% IRR on these major assumptions seems risky. Not saying your calc is wrong, but there must be something else Silverlake/Dell is seeing from this equation. I haven't done any work on Dell, but it seems like if Dell can grow EBITDA 4.7% a year, the public markets would give it more credit, no?

 

Illum quia tempora molestias mollitia et odit et. Nemo nihil eum ab quia delectus.

Rerum reiciendis aut expedita necessitatibus ex voluptatum nihil est. Magni eius cupiditate corporis necessitatibus magnam aliquid ea. Eos rerum aut aut. Dolorum debitis exercitationem quisquam aut voluptatem eius.

Sed expedita consequuntur vel vel. Itaque sequi rerum assumenda recusandae quas consequuntur laboriosam. Sapiente voluptatem itaque dolor voluptas. Rerum ut dicta impedit consequatur quis. Cupiditate ea dolore sunt rerum beatae quia ipsum aperiam.

Nihil totam dolor ut et non recusandae omnis. Impedit autem praesentium non at qui. Magnam delectus architecto soluta delectus et autem. Libero qui vel est excepturi ducimus.

Winners bring a bigger bag than you do. I have a degree in meritocracy.

Career Advancement Opportunities

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.3%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Morgan Stanley 03 98.9%
  • Evercore 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.9%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.3%

Professional Growth Opportunities

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.9%
  • JPMorgan No 97.3%

Total Avg Compensation

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (53) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (28) $184
  • Intern/Summer Associate (15) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (84) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (76) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
6
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
9
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
10
bolo up's picture
bolo up
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”