Shares of Dell spiked nearly 18% Monday and were briefly halted, following reports that the computer maker could be taken private.
Bloomberg News first reported that the Texas-based company was in talks with several private equity firms about a possible buyout.
A spokesperson for Dell said the company does not comment on rumor or speculation.
The personal computer maker has struggled to compete in the wake of declining PC sales as new mobile options continue to emerge from rivals Apple and Android developer Google.
The news also comes as Dell rival Hewlett-Packard was said to have dethroned Lenovo as the top PC maker.
Over the past five years, Dell’s stock has dropped nearly 39%, compared with a 300% surge for Apple’s stock and 54% gain for Google.
Dell recently partnered with a number of other PC companies to release a new tablet device that runs Windows 8 but so far that hasn’t helped turn the tide.
Dell CEO Michael Dell, who returned to the helm in 2007 after a three-year hiatus, founded the computer maker in 1984 when he was 19 years old and a freshman at the University of Texas at Austin.
–CNNMoney’s David Goldman and CNN’s Amanda Hobor contributed to this article.
