Microsoft may invest up to $3 billion in Dell

Microsoft (MSFT) may participate in the rumored buyout of Dell. The company is said to be in talks to invest between $1 and $3 billion with Silver Lake Partners and Michael Dell in an effort to take the struggling computer company private, David Faber of CNBC reported. The investment would be a “mezzanine financing most likely taking the form of a preferred of some kind” and not an equity stake in the company. Silver Lake Partners is said to be interested in buying Dell at $13 or $14 a share, valuing the company between $22 billion and $25 billion. Faber’s report was later confirmed by The Wall Street Journal.