Dell buyout consortium sees deal collapsing: source

 Dell Inc CEO Michael Dell and his private equity partner Silver Lake expect their deal to buy the No. 3 PC maker to collapse unless the company's special committee changes how votes on the transaction are counted, a person familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

Earlier on Wednesday, Dell's special committee refused to change the voting standard in return for an improved $13.75 per share offer by the consortium, but said it would be willing to move the vote's record date forward.

The buyout group does not believe the special committee's response to its sweetened and conditional $13.75 per share offer addresses the issue of the deal being blocked because too many shareholders do not cast their votes and are therefore counted as if they had voted "no," the person said.

The consortium believes that changing the vote's record date, as the special committee has offered, does not compensate for not changing the voting standard, the person added. Unless the voting standard changes, this is the end of the road for the deal, the person said.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the deliberations are private. Michael Dell and Silver Lake representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

(Reporting by Greg Roumeliotis; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick)

Reuters