According to both CNBC and The Wall Street Journal, Mocrisoft Corp. is looking to invest money into Dell Inc. or buy them straight out. Reports claim that Microsoft would spend between $1 Billion (with a "B") to $3 Billion in the acquisition. You might assume that is a high price but that amount would make Microsoft a minority investor in a complex deal expected to cost $23 Billion - $27 Billion if it is completed.
Silver Lake Partners is interested in buying as well after their stock price climbed about 20 percent last week. The stock rose 39 cents, or 2.6%, to $13.17 early Tuesday afternoon.
Dell, which is based in Round Rock, Texas, hasn't said whether it's interested in selling. Going private, though, would enable the company to overhaul its operations without having to meet Wall Street's demands for higher quarterly earnings.
Dell, the second largest U.S. computer maker behind Hewlett-Packard Co., is one ofMicrosoft's biggest partners. Among other things, Microsoft licenses its Windows operating system to Dell's personal computer makers.
Like many other PC makers, Dell's revenue has been sliding as the popularity of smartphones and tablet computers divert consumer and business spending from laptopand desktop machines.
By becoming a part-owner in Dell, Microsoftwould risk being viewed by HP and other PCmakers as more of a rival than a partner.Microsoft already has rankled some of its PCmakers by releasing a tablet computer called Surface that competes against their products.
So far, though, there has been little evidence indicating that the Surface is reshaping the market for computing devices.
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