Dell Inc. is getting closer to clinching a leveraged buyout withSilver Lake Management LLC, and Microsoft Corp. is planning toprovide part of the funding, people with knowledge of the mattersaid.

Silver Lake and Dell are negotiating a price in the range of$13.50 to $14.25 a share, said one of the people, who asked not tobe named because the talks are private. Microsoft is discussingcontributing about $2 billion for the deal, which could beannounced this week, the person said.

Microsoft stands to benefit from propping up Dell, one of itslargest partners in selling personal computers that run Windowssoftware. Both companies are racing to make up for an industrywideslump by working together on tablets, a market led by Apple Inc.and Google Inc. Microsoft could also use Dell's help selling tobusiness customers.

“For Microsoft to continue to be healthy, it needs strongenterprise partners,” said Tim Bajarin, founder of technologyconsulting firm Creative Strategies Inc.

Gemma Hart, a spokeswoman for Silver Lake, declined to comment,as did Frank Shaw, a spokesman for Redmond, Washington-basedMicrosoft, and David Frink, a spokesman for Round Rock, Texas-basedDell.

If the deal isn't completed this week, that would indicate thatprice has become an obstacle, and that the transaction is at riskof falling through, one of the people said. CNBC earlier reportedthat Microsoft plans to help finance the deal.

Dell is just one of a handful of vendors selling a tabletmachine with Windows RT, a version of Microsoft's operating systemfor chips running ARM Holdings Plc's technology. Dell will alsobegin shipping a separate tablet using the main operating system,Windows 8, later this month.

Microsoft needs the support of PC makers as Apple, Amazon.comInc. and Samsung Electronics Co. lure consumers with tabletdevices. Microsoft has also shifted its longstanding tactic bycompeting with its own partners in selling a tablet machine of itsown, called Surface.

Microsoft hasn't commented on Surface sales, leading someanalysts to speculate that the machine may not be selling well.Windows 8 also had a disappointing debut, said Todd Bradley,executive vice president at the largest PC maker, Hewlett-PackardCo.

PC Slump

Computer makers and Microsoft are facing a prolonged downturn asPC shipments are forecast to drop for the second year in a row in2013. They fell 4 percent in 2012 and will slide a further 1.5percent this year, JPMorgan analysts estimate. Tablet sales rose 72percent last year and will surge 54 percent this year, JPMorganforecasts.

This isn't the first time Microsoft has considered bolstering apotential Silver Lake deal. In 2011, the software maker offered tohelp fund an offer by Silver Lake and others to acquire a minoritystake in Yahoo! Inc., people familiar with the matter said at thetime. The deal never materialized.

A Microsoft investment in Dell could make it difficult for thesoftware company to work with other PC makers, according toBajarin.

“It would complicate their relationship with their currentpartners, but it could potentially shore up a partner that islosing ground to Lenovo and HP,” he said.

Microsoft fell less than 1 percent to $27.15 at the close in NewYork. Dell rose 2.2 percent to $13.12.

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