昨天我一直在研究戴尔公司（Dell）最近的竞购案（还能有其他事吗？），但是今天醒来脑海里涌出的问题比答案还多。下面就是我想到的六大主要问题。呃，为了表述清楚起见，我会把迈克尔•戴尔称为“迈克尔”——因为在写作时要把他本人和与他同名的公司区分开来。

    1、为什么黑石集团（Blackstone）不给迈克尔•戴尔打电话？昨天有传言称，迈克尔•戴尔准备和黑石集团坐下来谈判。考虑到迈克尔最初向戴尔公司特别委员会所做的承诺，他这么做并不让人惊讶。但据我所知，黑石在询价阶段从未主动接触过迈克尔——因为我们都知道，黑石曾通过秘密渠道联系了戴尔的潜在首席执行官接班人，比如马克•赫德和麦克•凯普拉斯。所以不难想见，他们碰头会有多尴尬。可能在黑石看来，迈克尔和银湖投资（Silver Lake）纯属穿连裆裤的，所以不会跟他谈，但怎么一个投资意向就改变了这一格局呢？

    再者，如果黑石没有让迈克尔参与的话，那它是怎么设法融资的呢？我不是指迈克尔的展期股份，而是指从银行融来的钱，而这些银行未必能和一支友善的管理团队见面。记得我早就暗示过，这种局面可能会导致准恶意收购。呃……

    2. 交易跟戴夫•约翰逊到底是什么关系？戴夫曾在戴尔主管并购业务，今年初才加盟黑石。坊间关于他有两种说法。一种是，他是让迈克尔•戴尔加入黑石团队的关键人物；另一种是，迈克尔•戴尔再也不想和他有任何生意往来。换言之，他是在推动戴尔公司做好出售的准备后，才高高兴兴地离职去另谋高就的吗？还是说，他是被扫地出门的？这真是个“看你是在跟谁说”的情况，对此，我也没有明确答案。

    3. 一个阴谋论揭穿另一个阴谋论？黑石是仍受到联邦阴谋案监管的四大私募股权基金之一。这个案子指控称，金融危机发生前，共有10家公司（包括银湖在内）在近24个并购案中以不正当手段操纵交易。现在指控的范围缩小了，主要 关注“越级交易”的行为，或是在其他公司已经签署了独家协议后还继续竞价的行为。所以，现在有种说法称，黑石对戴尔出价就足以证明它肯定会越级交易。说实话，这种说法没有根据。不过考虑一下这种可能性倒有点意思。毕竟，黑石到现在为止还没有花一分钱呢。

    4、伊坎想找个合作伙伴？有传言称，投机大亨卡尔•伊坎对与黑石合作持“开放”态度。他确实如此。他 在相关新闻里表示，他对举办“100美元免单日”的当地银行同样持“开放”态度。

    5、戴尔公司打算怎么处理代理委托书？据说代理委托书明天或周四就会签署。就像我之前说过的，这会是充满紧张气氛的一幕。一方面，迈克尔需要向股东证明，戴尔面临重大挑战，他本人正为此承受着巨大风险。另一方面，他又不能过于悲观，以免吓坏客户和员工。我猜测，这份代理委托书将至少包含几项微妙的条款，专门针对竞价对手对公司的理解（伊坎算法，第二章）。

    I spent much of yesterday working on Dell (what else?), but woke up with more questions than answers. So my top six are below. Oh, and for the sake of clarity, I'm now just going to refer to Michael Dell as "Michael" -- since writing intelligibly about both him and his eponymous company has become a bit confusing.

    1. Why didn't Blackstone call Michael Dell? There were reports yesterday that Michael Dell is planning to sit down with The Blackstone Group (BX). Not too surprising, based on Michael's original promises to Dell's (DELL) special committee. But my understanding is that Blackstone never reached out to Michael during the "go-shop" process – while we do know that it used back-channels to contact possible CEO replacements like Mark Hurd and Mike Capellas. So imagine how awkward this meeting is going to be. Maybe Blackstone viewed Michael and Silver Lake as too tied at the hip to have such talks, but how does an indication of interest change that?

    Moreover, if Blackstone doesn't get Michael's participation, how does it manage to get financing? I don't mean his rolled-over shares – but money from banks who won't necessarily be able to meet with a friendly management team. Remember when I originally suggested this whole situation could lead to a quasi-hostile bid. Well…

    2. What's the deal with Dave Johnson? There are two schools of thought on David Johnson, the former Dell M&A boss who joined Blackstone early this year. Either he is the lynchpin for getting Michael Dell to join Blackstone's team, or he's a guy with whom Michael Dell has no interest in doing business ever again. In other words, did he leave happily for a new opportunity after getting Dell Inc. ready to sell? Or was he pushed out? This really is a "depends who you speak to" sort of situation, which leaves me without a definitive answer.

    3. A conspiracy theory to debunk a conspiracy theory? Blackstone is one of four private equity firms still subject to a federal conspiracy case, which originally alleged that 10 firms (including Silver Lake) had rigged bids on nearly two dozen pre-crisis buyouts. The narrowed complaint now concerns the issue of deal-jumping, or making rival bids after another firm already has a signed proprietary agreement. So, there is a theory floating out there that Blackstone is bidding on Dell to prove that it will, indeed, jump a deal. To be clear, there is no evidence to support this theory. But it's fun to think about. After all, Blackstone hasn't really spent any money (yet).

    4. Icahn wants to partner? There are reports that Carl Icahn is "open" to a partnership with Blackstone. Well of course he is. In related news, I'm open to my local bank branch holding "free $100 bill day."

    5. How does Dell handle the proxy? Word is that the proxy is coming tomorrow or Thursday. As I mentioned yesterday, it will be a tightrope act. On one hand, Michael needs to convince shareholders that Dell faces huge challenges ahead and that he's taking enormous personal risk. On the other hand, he can't be so dire as to freak out customers and employees. My guess is it will include at least a few subtle jabs at the rival bidders' understanding of the company (Icahn math, part II).