Dell announced that founder and CEO Michael Dell will use his personal finances land combine forces with investment firm Silver Lake and several international banks! to convert Dell Inc. into a privately owned company. Microsoft is contributing a $2 billion loan toward the purchase, indicating deeper interest in PC hardware after releasing its Surface tablets last year. It seems like this could complicate Dell’s recent Linux forays.

Taking a company private has advantages; Dell will no longer have to seek shareholder approval to make major strategic changes. and it will not have to publicly report its financial situation. This can allow the company to try things that might not pay off in the short term, and gives it more control.

If no other challengers step into the Thunderdome with a competing offer, stockholders will receive $13.68 per share in cash, or $24.4 billion dollars in total. Dell Inc. approached its CEO in August about going private, so the announcement is not unexpected.