Depressed Dell now looking to go private

Dell Inc's board is predicting another year of lackluster growth in fiscal 2014 as demand for personal computers ebbs, underscoring the urgency behind the company's decision to be taken private, documents show.

Sales for the year ending in January will slip to $56.5 billion and Dell's PC business will shrink by $10 billion over four years, according to projections in a proxy statement filed over the weekend with regulators. Operating income will be stagnant at $3 billion, according to the documents, which shed light on a $24.4 billion buyout proposal led by Silver Lake Management LLC, as well as plans by Chief Executive Officer Michael Dell to accelerate a turnaround after going private.

The documents outline a worsening outlook for Texas-based Dell that set the stage for negotiations - kicked off in June by shareholder Southeastern Asset Management Inc - that included company executives, a special committee of the board, Silver Lake and their respective financial and legal advisers. Dell is considering the resulting $13.65-a-share bid alongside competing offers from Blackstone Group LP and billionaire Carl Icahn that it says could prove superior.