Dell Nears Possible $24 Million Buyout

May sell to company's founder and take company private

Dell Inc is edging closer to an agreement to sell itself to a buyout consortium led by Michael Dell, its founder and chief executive, and private equity firm Silver Lake Partners in a deal that could top $24 billion, people familiar with the matter said on Friday.

The buyout consortium is negotiating taking Dell private at $13 to $14 per share, two of the people said. This translates into an equity valuation for the Round Rock, Texas-based company of between $22.6 billion and $24.4 billion.

Dell shares were up 2.5 percent at $13.57 in afternoon trading.

Michael Dell is expected to take majority ownership of the world's third-largest personal computer maker while Silver Lake and Microsoft Corp would become minority investors, three of the people said.