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Dell CEO and founder Michael Dell at a meeting of the Confederation of Indian Industries in Bangalore, January 9, 2012. Voting on a proposal to take computer-maker Dell private was delayed on Friday after Dell agreed to raise the offering price and change the vote-counting system.
The battle for Dell is far from over. Billionaire activist Carl Icahn vowed on Friday to keep fighting for control of the computer maker.
The latest skirmish came after the company said Dell's special committee had reached agreement with the buyout group led by CEO Michael Dell to purchase the company for $13.75 per share. The deal values the company at about $25 billion.
The Round Rock, Texas, company said a group led by its founder and the investment firm Silver Lake Partners will tack a one-time shareholder payout of 13 cents per share to an offer they made last week to buy the company for $13.75 per share. Michael Dell is funding the 13 cents a share special dividend personally.
The company, which has been locked in a public brawl with Icahn, has indicated it is changing its voting standard for a new, higher offer. Toward that end, Dell dramatically reduced the amount it would cost to break up the deal, to $180 million from $450 million. That may open the door for an eventual agreement with the activist Icahn, who has agitated for months to buy the struggling computer giant.
Icahn responded to the new deal via Twitter stating, "We are pleased to have won another battle in the Dell war but the war itself is far from over. More to follow."
On Thursday, Icahn filed a lawsuit to prevent Dell from setting a new record date, the latest in a series of efforts to derail the deal. According to the company, the terms of Dell's buyout agreement include moving the record date to mid-August.
(Read more: Icahn files lawsuit over latest Dell buyout offer)
Icahn isn't the only investor against the deal.
Shareholder Stephen Yacktman, in a statement, said, "The company, increases in value every month. There is no increase in valuation being paid. Shareholders are just getting paid with their own money."
He added: "If the special committee was truly concerned about the shareholders, they would let the shareholders vote on Icahn's proposal and board. What kind of board makes shareholders sue to get to be able to exercise their legal right to vote? By law, the shareholder meeting needs to beheld by mid-August."
In afternoon trading on the Nasdaq, Dell's shares rose more than 5 percent to $13.66. (For the latest stock price, click here.)
Shareholders were scheduled to vote this morning on a lower offer to buy the company for $13.65 per share. That vote has been postponed. Shareholders who own the stock as of Aug. 13 will be eligible to vote at a Sept. 12 special meeting on the new deal. The company will hold its annual meeting on Oct. 17.
Dell's founder and private equity firm Silver Lake want to take the company private, arguing that a painful restructuring can best be best performed away from stock market scrutiny.
But the battle over that deal has raged for months, adding further uncertainty about a company already shrinking along with a rapidly declining PC market.
(Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report)
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