Dell Inc, the world's third largest personal computer maker, is in talks to buy data storage company EMC Corp, a person familiar with the matter said, in what could be one of the biggest technology deals ever.

Dell is also talking to banks to finance an all-cash offer for the Hopkinton, Massachusetts-based company, the person told Reuters on condition of anonymity because the negotiations are confidential.

The terms of the negotiations were not immediately known. EMC has a market capitalization of about $50 billion as of Wednesday's close.

A potential deal could further strengthen Dell's presence among corporate clients at a time when Michael Dell has been trying to transform the company he founded in 1984 into a complete provider of enterprise computing services such as Hewlett-Packard Co and IBM.

Dell spokesman David Flink and EMC spokesman Dave Farmer declined to comment.

The news of the deal talks comes two years after Dell was taken private for $24.9 billion by founder Michael Dell and private equity firm Silver Lake, ending Dell's decades-long run as one of the world's largest publicly traded PC makers.

If the deal goes through, it will top Avago Technologies Ltd's $37 billion offer for Broadcom Corp.

EMC has been struggling under pressure from activist investor and shareholder Elliott Management Corp, which wants the company to spin off its majority-owned VMware Inc unit.

Even though EMC has made clear it will not entertain a major split, Elliott hopes the additional time will give the company more room to craft a response that could avoid a bruising activist campaign.

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