Dell, Acquisition | featured news

Talks between Dell Inc and a consortium led by its founder and chief executive Michael Dell to take the world's No.3 PC maker private were still on track on Monday, with negotiations focusing on a price of between $13.50 and $13.75 per share, a person familiar with the matter said.

Microsoft Corp. is reportedly in discussions to help finance a buyout of struggling computer maker Dell Inc. According to the Wall Street Journal, which cited a person familiar with the talks, Microsoft's investment "would likely be in the range of a couple of billion dollars." CNBC reported a range of $1 billion to $3 billion, citing sources close to the matter.

Shares of Dell rose more than 12 percent early Monday afternoon after Bloomberg News reported that the personal computer maker was in talks with at least two private equity firms about going private.

Dell is buying Quest Software for $2.4 billion to expand its offerings as its personal computer business weakens in an era of smartphones and sleeker devices like the iPad. The deal announced Monday capped off a bidding war that began last month when Quest revealed a mystery suitor had made an offer trumping a $2 billion sale that had been worked out with Insight Venture Partners in March. The secret bidder turned out to be Dell Inc., the second largest PC maker in the U.S. behind Hewlett-Packard Co.

Dell on Thursday withdrew from the bidding for 3Par, which agreed to be acquired by Hewlett-Packard for $33 per share.

Hewlett-Packard Co. is bidding $1.5 billion for data storage provider 3Par Inc., offering 33 percent more than what rival Dell Inc. agreed to pay for the company just a week earlier.