Dell pondering a return to the stock market?

Stories are breaking this morning that Michael Dell is toying with the idea of relisting Dell, the company he founded in 1984, first listed in 1988 and took private with the backing of Silver Lake Partners in a contentious delisting in 2013.

If there is any truth in these stories, they come fresh off the back of Michael Dell's success in overturning the decision from a court case launched by activist investors, which originally ruled that the company was significantly undervalued when it delisted.

Naturally, no one is being named as the source for the IPO speculation, but there appear to be two options, one being that Dell may list again in its own right or that the company could choose to fully merge with the already listed VMware, of which it became a de facto shareholder after Dell's USD 67bn acquisition of EMC in 2016.

Global stock markets, especially those in the US, are recording record highs, so if a listing were a serious consideration it would provide a significant return on investment for Silver Lake, should they choose to fully exit the company. It would also provide a substantial additional war chest for Dell to further expand its recent acquisition spree.