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By Nadia Damouni and Soyoung Kim and Greg Roumeliotis
NEW YORK, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Dell Inc is edgingcloser to an agreement to sell itself to a buyout consortium ledby Michael Dell, its founder and chief executive, and privateequity firm Silver Lake Partners in a deal that could top $24billion, people familiar with the matter said on Friday.
The buyout consortium is negotiating taking Dell private at$13 to $14 per share, two of the people said. This translatesinto an equity valuation for the Round Rock, Texas-based companyof between $22.6 billion and $24.4 billion.
Dell shares were up 2.5 percent at $13.57 in afternoontrading.
Michael Dell is expected to take majority ownership of theworld's third-largest personal computer maker while Silver Lakeand Microsoft Corp would become minority investors,three of the people said.
The transaction is set to be finalized over the weekend andthe timetable could still slip, the people cautioned, asking notto be named because the matter is not public.
The investment group, which held negotiations with Dell'scamp in New York on Thursday, has secured up to $15 billion ofdebt financing to take Dell private from four investment banks-- Barclays, Bank of America Merrill Lynch,Credit Suisse and RBC Capital, people familiarwith the matter said.
Barclays is also advising Silver Lake on the transaction,along with Perella Weinberg Partners, said two of the people. JPMorgan Chase & Co is advising Dell.
Representatives for Dell, Microsoft, Silver Lake andBarclays declined to comment. Perella Weinberg could not beimmediately reached for comment.
As part of the transaction, Michael Dell will contribute hisexisting stake of almost 16 percent in the company towardgaining majority ownership, sources close to the matter havesaid. The deal would mark the largest leveraged buyout sincethe global financial crisis.
Going private would allow Dell, which has been trying tobecome a one-stop shop for corporate technology needs as the PCmarket shrinks, to conduct that difficult makeover away frompublic scrutiny.
Dell has formed a special committee of its independentdirectors and hired Evercore Partners Inc to assesswhether the company is getting the best deal for shareholdersand not one that is just in the best interest of Michael Dell,several people familiar with the matter have told Reuterspreviously.
