Dell is getting closer to clinching a leveraged buyout with Silver Lake Management, and Microsoft is planning to provide part of the funding, people with knowledge of the matter said.
Silver Lake and Dell are negotiating a price in the range of $13.50 to $14.25 a share, said one of the people. Microsoft is discussing contributing about $2 billion for the deal, which could be announced this week, the person said.
Microsoft stands to benefit from propping up Dell, one of its largest partners in selling personal computers that run Windows software.