Dave Johnson finds himself once again pitted against a former employer.In leading Blackstone Group's 11th-hour bid for Dell Inc, the acquisitions expert and famously tough negotiator has seated himself across the table from ex-boss and company founder Michael Dell. Their relationship has now become a crucial element in the battle over the largest private equity-led takeover since the financial crisis.There may even be echoes of the way Nabisco Brands President John Greeniaus ended up switching sides from RJR Nabisco's CEO Ross Johnson in the struggle for control of the food and tobacco conglomerate in the leveraged buyout boom of the late 1980s.Blackstone's Johnson, a former IBM executive with a reputation for working through the night rather than early in the day, may be joining the party late. But he could still up-end Michael Dell's original proposal to take the company private for $24.4 billion.
Dell, Inc. (Dell) is a global information technology company that offers its customers a range of solutions and services delivered directly by Dell and through other distribution channels. Shares of DELL remained unchanged at $14.50. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $8.69 and as high as $16.85. On average, 38237600 shares of DELL exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 0.
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