“Blackstone and Icahn are financial buyers, not ego buyers, and their name isn’t on the door, so they won’t stay in a bidding war that requires them to overpay,” said Erik Gordon, a business and law professor at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Dell rose 2.6 percent Monday to close at $14.51, 6.3 percent above Michael Dell’s offer.

Blackstone is proposing a leveraged recapitalization transaction. Investors could choose to get either all cash or equity, subject to a cap, if they want to stay invested in Dell. The shares would continue to be publicly traded.

Blackstone, which has teamed up with Francisco Partners, a San Francisco-based technology-oriented buyout shop, and New York-based venture firm Insight Venture Partners, said it plans to fund the transaction with a combination of equity and debt financing, in addition to using Dell’s cash and equivalents. Blackstone said it held discussions with some of Dell’s largest shareholders and plans to invite them to join the transaction.

Morgan Stanley, which is working with Blackstone to lead financing, has issued a letter saying that it’s “highly confident” that Blackstone will obtain financing. Other parties have “indicated a strong interest” in helping finance the deal, Blackstone said.

Icahn is offering shareholders the option to roll over their stakes or receive $15 a share in cash, with the amount of cash limited to $15.65 billion, according to the statement. Icahn has enlisted Jefferies to conduct due diligence.

Icahn’s offer assumes that Southeastern Asset Management and T. Rowe Price Group, among the largest Dell investors after Michael Dell, would contribute their stakes and won’t receive a cash payment.