Dell is not being purchased by Microsoft. Silver Lake Partners, a PE firm that does investments and leveraged buyouts (LBOs), is conducting an LBO of Dell. Micr

Dell is not being purchased by Microsoft. Silver Lake Partners, a PE firm that does investments and leveraged buyouts (LBOs), is conducting an LBO of Dell. Microsoft is merely providing some of the capital for the buyout, which would likely take the form of a loan to Silver Lake Partners. Again, Microsoft is not buying Dell, Silver Lake Partners is. It makes a lot of sense for MS 1. from a strategic standpoint, 2. Microsoft having tens of billions of cash reserves which need a return, and 3. MS + Silver lake have a prior relationship: MS purchased Skype from them.