T. Rowe Price (TROW) said Monday that it will pay some $194 million to clients to compensate them for a botched proxy vote made during the 2013 leveraged buyout of Dell.
At the time, about 31 million shares of the Texas-based computer maker were held in several of the group's portfolios and accounts, including mutual funds, trusts, separately managed accounts and subadvised client accounts. T. Rowe's investment team viewed Dell's shares at the time, priced at $13.75, as "significantly undervalued."
Due to a proxy voting error, though, voting instructions for the shares were submitted as "for" the merger rather than "against."
On May 11, a Delaware court ruled that this voting error rendered T. Rowe Price's fund, trust and client shares ineligible to pursue fair value. It then decided on May 31 that Dell's fair value per share was $17.62.
