Dell Technologies, which currently owns about 80 percent of the cloud computing company VMware, may sell itself to VMware in a reverse merger, according to CNBC.
Here are five things to know.
1. In 2015, Dell acquired EMC for $67 billion, which gave it 80 percent stake in VMware, according to CNBC. VMware's platform virtualization software is one of its key drivers. Virtualization enables companies to run their data centers' large computers more efficiently by "packing multiple 'virtual' computers on a single piece of hardware," according to CNBC.
2. If the smaller company VMware — which is worth about $60 billion — successfully acquires Dell, Dell would be able to publicly trade without going through the formal listing process.
3. Since Dell is privately held, its valuation isn't known. Before the company went private in a 2013 deal, it was valued at $24.4 billion.
4. The deal could be one of the biggest tech acquisitions ever since it allows the investors who backed Dell's 2013 move to go private to monetize and helps Dell pay back some of its $50 billion in debt.
5. Spokespeople for Dell and VMware declined to comment to CNBC.
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