IN DELL BUYOUT, A FINAL CHAPTER  | After months of boardroom wrangling and public accusations, the fight over Dell may be drawing to a close. Shareholders are meeting on Thursday to vote on the $24.9 billion buyout proposal by the company’s founder, Michael S. Dell, and the investment firm Silver Lake.
It appears that the prospective buyers have now secured enough votes to win, according to Bloomberg News. The machinery for a buyout is already in motion, as the computer company set indicative pricing on a $5.5 billion loan to finance the deal, Reuters reported on Wednesday. At the same time, Dell’s debt was downgraded to junk status on Wednesday by Standard & Poor’s, amid concerns about loading up the company with leverage.
VERIZON LEADS THE WAY IN SELLING DEBT  | It seems no sum is too large for companies looking to raise money through the debt markets â€" and bankers are egging them on, DealBook’s David Gelles writes. The $49 billion sale of investment-grade corporate debt by Verizon Communications on Wednesday caught even longtime market participants by surprise. The offering, to finance Verizon’s $130 billion deal to take full control of its wireless venture, fed speculation that more companies might tap the debt markets before interest rates begin to rise.
“We’re starting to see the animal spirits pick up again,†said Kathy Jones, a fixed-income strategist at Charles Schwab. “Usually, once it gets going, it doesn’t let up.†One banker involved in the offering said he was advising corporate clients that now was an ideal time to raise more money for acquisitions, Mr. Gelles reports.
NEW YORK REGULATOR SEES MORE ABUSE UNDER NEW INSURANCE RULES  | “Several big life insurers are going to have to set aside a total of at least $4 billion because New York regulators believe they have been manipulating new rules meant to make sure they have adequate reserves to pay out claims,†Mary Williams Walsh reports in DealBook. The rules are a framework being tested by regulators who have struggled to find a solution that all 50 states can agree on. Insurance companies claim the state regulations are forcing them to hold too much money in reserve.
“On Friday, New York State plans to drop out of that agreement, according to a letter from Benjamin M. Lawsky, the financial services superintendent, to his fellow state insurance regulators,†Ms. Walsh reports. “In the letter, which was reviewed by The New York Times, Mr. Lawsky said the test, which started in 2012, showed that the new framework did not work and was, in fact, making the ‘gamesmanship and abuses’ in the industry even worse.â€
ON THE AGENDA Â |Â Mark Carney, the new governor of the Bank of England, is appearing before British Parliament. Henry M. Paulson Jr., the former Treasury secretary, is on Bloomberg TV at 4 p.m.
PAULSON REFLECTS ON THE CRISIS  | Five years after the financial crisis, Henry M. Paulson Jr., who was the Treasury secretary at the time, is still troubled by the bailout of Wall Street. He recounts those dark days in an extended interview with Bloomberg Businessweek and expresses his misgivings. “I knew Americans were angry when they thought the banks were hoarding and not lending as much as they would have liked. But how does the government make the banks lend? Even if you nationalize the banks, which we didn’t, do you want the government making lending decisions for the banks? That’s a recipe for disaster,†he says.
The bonuses paid to bank executives, he says, “infuriated me â€" the sheer cheekiness of it. Forget whether they were legally entitled to their bonuses, it was such a graceless lack of self-awareness and a total lack of understanding about how the rest of the world and the rest of America looked at them.â€
Tina Brown to Leave The Daily Beast  | Ms. Brown, the editor in chief of the Web site The Daily Beast, is departing to start her own conference company, a move that will end her publishing partnership with her financial backer, Barry Diller, the chairman of IAC/InterActiveCorp.
NEW YORK TIMES
Umpqua to buy Sterling Financial for $2 Billion  | The parent of Umpqua Bank agreed to buy the Sterling Financial Corporation, a private equity-backed lender, for $2 billion in cash and stock, the companies announced.
REUTERS
Societe Generale Said to Consider Sale of Asia Private Bank  | The French bank Société Générale is exploring a sale of its private banking arm in Asia, a business that could fetch about $600 million, Reuters reports, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter.
REUTERS
Money Manager Takes Big Stake in News Corp. Â |Â Southeastern Asset Management, the money manager that fought the buyout of Dell, has taken a 12 percent voting stake in the News Corporation, making it the second-largest investor behind Rupert Murdoch.
DealBook »
Vodafone’s Bid for Kabel Deutschland Awaits Shareholder Approval  | The offer has the backing of Kabel Deutschland’s board, but Vodafone appeared to be far short of the 75 percent of shareholder votes required before Wednesday’s deadline.
DealBook »
Slim Can Afford to Raise Bid for Dutch Firm  | There should be room for the billionaire’s América Móvil to pay more for the Dutch telecommunications firm KPN, even if his company is insisting it will not budge, Quentin Webb of Reuters Breakingviews writes.
REUTERS BREAKINGVIEWS
DealBook »
After Goldman and a Book, Greg Smith Emerges to Aid Regulators  | Greg Smith met with officials at the Securities and Exchange Commission in August to talk about the Volcker Rule. Some commentators have expressed skepticism about the value he could add to the debate.
DealBook »
Deutsche Bank Plans to Extend Contract of Co-C.E.O.  | Deutsche Bank announced on Wednesday that it planned to extend the tenure of its co-chief executive, Jürgen Fitschen, in a move aimed at pre-empting leadership questions at Germany’s largest financial institution.
DealBook »
Promontory Financial Hires Another Government Official  | The consulting firm Promontory Financial Group hired Mark Levonian, who previously was the top economist at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Bloomberg News reports.
BLOOMBERG NEWS
Advanced Micro Devices to Be Removed From S.&P. 500 Index  |Â
ALLTHINGSD
Buyout Firms Said to Consider Bid for Jones Group  | K.K.R. and Sycamore Partners “are considering a joint bid†for the Jones Group, a footwear and apparel company that is looking to sell itself, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter.
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Dole Says It Received No Offers to Challenge Buyout  | Dole Food said the “go-shop†period connected to its $1.2 billion agreement to be sold to its chief executive ended without any rival offers. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter.
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Ackman Questions Impartiality of Herbalife’s Auditor  | William A. Ackman expanded his campaign against Herbalife on Wednesday, questioning the independence of its auditor, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and warning of “serious accounting†issues at the company.
DealBook »
Under Investor Pressure, Sotheby’s Weighs Changes  | The company said that it was considering moves like a share repurchase or raising its dividend, taking into account a number of factors, including taking on new debt, the value of its real estate and possible tax issues.
DealBook »
In Offering I.P.O. Advice, Zuckerberg Speaks From Experience  | It took more than a year for Facebook’s stock to climb back up to its initial public offering price. But now, with the stock reaching new highs, Mark Zuckerberg, the chief executive of the social network, is feeling relatively upbeat about the public markets.
“Having gone through a terrible first year, it made our company a lot stronger,†he said at a TechCrunch event on Wednesday, according to AllThingsD. “I’ve been very outspoken about staying private as long as possible,†Mr. Zuckerberg said. “But in retrospect, I was too afraid of going public. I don’t think it’s necessary to do that.â€
ALLTHINGSD
Britain Prepares I.P.O. for Postal Service  | The British government has confirmed plans to sell a majority stake in Royal Mail, the country’s postal service, over the coming weeks in Britain’s largest privatization since the 1990s.
DealBook » | 
Vivendi to Weigh Splitting Up  | The French conglomerate Vivendi said on Wednesday that its board was considering cleaving itself in two, months after it struck deals to sell big holdings in the video game maker Activision Blizzard and a Moroccan phone company.
DealBook »
Former Ad Executive is Named Next Leader at Pandora  | Brian P. McAndrews, a technology and digital advertising executive, was named the next chief executive and chairman of Pandora Media, succeeding Joseph J. Kennedy, who announced his resignation in March.
NEW YORK TIMES
Morgenthaler Partners Hang Out a Shingle With $175 Million Fund  | Three partners at the venture capital firm Morgenthaler Ventures are forming the Canvas Venture Fund, a new fund to make early-stage investments in software companies.
DealBook »
Mark Cuban Invests in Start-Up to Connect Companies to M.B.A.’s  | The billionaire Mark Cuban is investing in a start-up that offers companies consulting services by M.B.A. students and graduates.
DealBook »
Control of Libor to Stay in London  | “Brussels has ditched its plan to put the scandal-mired Libor lending rate under the direct control of a European supervisor in Paris, in a concession that removes a serious political nuisance for Britain,†The Financial Times reports.
FINANCIAL TIMES
New Chapter in a Clash Over Bonds in Argentina  | The United States Supreme Court is meeting on Sept. 30 to decide whether to hear an appeal of a ruling favoring bondholders who refused to join a deal on defaulted bonds from Argentina.
DealBook »
Google’s Stock Settlement May Not Do Much for Shareholders  | Google’s settlement of a shareholder lawsuit will most likely clear the way for the company to issue new nonvoting Class C shares. The move will perpetuate the control of Google by its co-founders, Sergey Brin and Larry Page, but may not be in shareholders’ best interests, Steven M. Davidoff writes in the Deal Professor column.
DealBook »
Indian Tribes Press Their Online Loan Case Against New York  | Two tribes are arguing in Federal District Court in Manhattan that New York’s top financial regulator overstepped his jurisdictional bounds in his efforts to end their online lending operations in the state.
DealBook »
