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Dell in talks to go private: Bloomberg

US-DELL-ACQUISITION:Dell in talks to go private: Bloomberg

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Dell Inc is in talks with private equity firms to go private, Bloomberg reported on Monday, sending the personal computer maker's shares soaring 15 percent.

The PC maker, which has steadily ceded market share to larger rival Hewlett Packard and China's Lenovo, is talking with at least two private equity firms, Bloomberg cited two people with knowledge of the matter as saying.

Dell was not immediately available for comment.

Like HP and Lenovo, Dell is grappling with dwindling demand for traditional desktop and laptop computers with the advent of tablets like Apple Inc's iPad. Sales of PCs over the holidays slid for the first time in more than five years, according to industry researcher IDC.

The company, now reinventing itself as a provider of computers and services to corporations and government agencies, saw shipments of computers plummet 21 percent in the fourth quarter, according to IDC.

Dell's fortunes have waxed and waned. In 2007, billionaire CEO Michael Dell - whose company was lauded as an early pioneer of just-in-time inventory management and online, custom sales - returned to the company he founded to try and revive its business.

Dell's stock soared to $12.54 in early afternoon trade, after a brief trading suspension.

(Reporting By Poornima Gupta; Editing by Bernard Orr)

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