Dell shareholders approve buyout

Dell Inc. (DELL) Chief Executive Officer Michael Dell won shareholder approval for a planned $24.9 billion buyout, capping a seven-month standoff with investors and gaining free rein to attempt a turnaround of the struggling personal-computer maker outside the glare of public markets.

The founder’s victory, announced during a meeting today at Dell’s headquarters in Round Rock, Texas, ends the jousting between the buyout group and investors led by billionaire Carl Icahnand Southeastern Asset Management Inc. Disagreements over price pushed the deal to the brink of defeat and resulted in two increases since the proposal was announced in February. The takeover of the third-largest PC maker is the biggest LBO since Blackstone Group LP (BX)took Hilton Worldwide Inc. private in 2007.