Dell Inc, the world's third-largest personal computer maker, is in talks to buy data storage company EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC), a person familiar with the matter said, in what could be one of the biggest technology deals ever.
A deal could be an option for EMC, under pressure from activist investor Elliott Management Corp to spin off majority-owned VMware Inc .
The terms being discussed were not known, but if the deal goes through it would top Avago Technologies' $37-billion U.S. offer for Broadcom . EMC has a market value of about $50 billion U.S.
Dell is also in talks with banks to finance an all-cash offer for EMC, the person told Reuters on condition of anonymity as the talks were confidential.
Dell spokesman David Flink and EMC spokesman Dave Farmer declined to comment.
A deal could further strengthen Dell's presence among corporate clients at a time when founder Michael Dell has been trying to transform the company he founded in 1984 into a complete provider of enterprise computing services such as Hewlett-Packard Co and IBM.
The talks come two years after Michael Dell and private-equity firm Silver Lake took Dell private for $24.9 billion U.S., ending its decades-long run as one of the world's largest publicly traded PC makers.
EMC shares opened Thursday up 38 cents, or 1.5%, from Wednesday's close to $26.34 U.S, within a 52-week trading range of $22.66 U.S. to $30.92 U.S.
