Dell Adjourns Vote on Deal as Some Big Investors Start to Shift

Dell Inc. adjourned a vote on its proposed $24.4 billion sale to its founder on Thursday morning, signaling that the planned transaction lacked enough support from shareholders. The meeting has been rescheduled for July 24 at 6 p.m. Eastern time.

But a number of big institutional investors switched their votes to "yes" overnight, a person briefed said, signaling hope that the leveraged buyout is still viable.

That group - including the Vanguard Group, BlackRock and the State Street Corporation - had previously indicated that they opposed the deal.

The moves indicate the kind of gamesmanship that has surrounded the transaction in the final hours before shareholders formally voted. Advisers to the transaction believe that many investors were simply bluffing to try and force a higher bid from the proposed buyers, Michael S. Dell and the investment firm Silver Lake.

A sizable group of investors, which included the three big money managers, as well as Invesco and the Bank of New York Mellon, switched their vote to "yes" sometime around midnight, the person briefed on the matter said.

One investor whose vote is still being awaited is Franklin Resources, this person added.