Dell may be sold to private equity, reports Bloomberg, with the computer company said to be talking to two private equity companies - Texas Pacific Group and Silver Lake.
The reports surfaced after Dell's corporate strategy boss left to join private equity company Blackstone.
It is said that it would cost $19 bn for someone to buy Dell. Founder Michael Dell owns 15% of the company - a stake worth $3.3bn - and has indicated in the past he would consider taking the company private.
Dell has tried to get into phones, tablets and music players but, largely, failed.
Or it could just be a way for Michael Dell to exit with a cash bonus. He is already worth $13.5bn.
The company has $11bn of cash, nearly all of it held abroad, but $9bn of debt.In a way Dell is a suitable target for the private equity business model as it is in a commoditising market where profit is slim, growth is low and slowing, and where there's not much investment in technological innovation.
So private equity's core competencies of cost-cutting and tax-avoidance may bring some benefits.
