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The Oakmark Funds group, one of Dell's larger shareholders, sold its stake after Blackstone withdrew its potential bid for the PC maker.

Billionaire investor Carl Icahn, who is fighting Dell Inc. founder Michael Dell's plan to take the struggling company private, is entering into a confidentiality agreement that would give him access to the computer maker's financial records.

Dell Inc on Tuesday reported a 31 percent drop in profit, hurt by a shrinking consumer business, as investors weighed founder Michael Dell's offer to buy out the world's No.3 maker of personal computers.

Dell's largest outside investor said it would vote against the proposed deal to take the company private.

Slumping personal computer maker Dell is bowing out of the stock market in a $24.4 billion buyout that represents the largest deal of its kind since the Great Recession dried…Click to Continue »

Microsoft Corp. is reportedly in discussions to help finance a buyout of struggling computer maker Dell Inc. According to the Wall Street Journal, which cited a person familiar with the talks, Microsoft's investment "would likely be in the range of a couple of billion dollars." CNBC reported a range of $1 billion to $3 billion, citing sources close to the matter.

Shares of Dell rose more than 12 percent early Monday afternoon after Bloomberg News reported that the personal computer maker was in talks with at least two private equity firms about going private.

Dell is buying Quest Software for $2.4 billion to expand its offerings as its personal computer business weakens in an era of smartphones and sleeker devices like the iPad. The deal announced Monday capped off a bidding war that began last month when Quest revealed a mystery suitor had made an offer trumping a $2 billion sale that had been worked out with Insight Venture Partners in March. The secret bidder turned out to be Dell Inc., the second largest PC maker in the U.S. behind Hewlett-Packard Co.