It has been rumored that Dell could be interested in going private, and there are talks that Microsoft could be interested in investing in the company and pump as much as $3 billion into it. While it remains to be seen if those rumors pan out, it seems that we might not have to wait for long because according to new rumors, it is possible that Dell’s buyout could be announced as soon as today (via WSJ). It also seems that Microsoft might not be the only interested party as private equity company Silver Lake Partners is also expected to buy a stake in Dell by paying up to $1 billion, while Microsoft’s contribution will be $2 billion which will be in the form of debt.
It has been speculated that the reason Microsoft is interested is because of Dell’s role as one of the major PC manufacturers, and Microsoft is fighting to protect its Windows operating system, especially since the focus has started to shift towards smartphones and tablets these days. Not an entirely wild speculation as it holds some merit, not to mention Microsoft stands to gain as well if Dell were to succeed since they would then have a stake in the company. We’ll take this with a grain of salt for now, but hopefully we will know by the end of the day if the rumors pan out.