Dell Inc. (Nasdaq: DELL) is said to be in talks with more than one private equity firm, indicating the personal-computer company may go private.

The discussions are preliminary, and several large banks have been contacted to manage the sale, including JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) and Evercore Partners Inc. (NYSE: EVR), according to a Bloomberg News story. Private equity firm Silver Lake Partners is, so far, expected to be leading the buy-side consortium.

Evercore is handling the go-shop process, indicating that Dell is looking to see if it could get a better offer.

Round Rock, Texas-based Dell’s shares closed at $12.29 after opening at $11 the day the report came out.

Dell acquired Gale Technologies, a company that develops infrastructure-automation software, as part of its efforts to expand its software portfolio in November. 

The company was founded in 1984 by Michael Dell while he was a student at the University of Texas at Austin. Dell sold IBM-compatible computers built from stock components and dropped out of school after getting about $300,000 in capital from his family.

Technology