T. Rowe Price recently announced that the company will pay clients approximately $194 million to compensate them for a proxy voting error related to a 2013 leverage buyout of Dell. Last month, a Delaware court denied T. Rowe Price’s bid for appraisal rights in the merger because the funds’ shares did not vote against the merger. The company has said that the vote in favor of the merger was a mistake – as it had publicly opposed the price being offered. The release reiterated T. Rowe Price’s belief that transaction undervalued Dell’s shares – a belief that was supported by the Delaware Court’s recent determination that the fair value of the shares was $17.62, rather than the $13.75 offered as part of the merger. As a result, the firm agreed to make the payments to compensate the shareholders holding Dell stock for the difference. The release states that the sum will be paid from the firm’s cash.
