Pressured EMC considers merger with HP or Dell - reports

Insiders claim EMC and HP have been discussing a union for the past 12 months

EMC has considered merging with rivals such as HP and Dell after investor pressure has prompted it to consider its options.

Earlier this month, the storage giant was rumoured to be in talks with HP about a possible sale of VMware. Over the summer, activist investor Elliot Management took a $1bn (£590m) slice of EMC with a view to encouraging a sell-off of its virtualisation arm.

But sources speaking to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) suggest that EMC has been in talks with HP for almost a year – well before the VMware claims came to light – about a possible merger between the two technology behemoths.

The sources claim the duo has since called off the long-standing talks and said it is unclear as to whether they could be revived.

EMC has held talks with Dell, Cisco and Oracle, the WSJ reports, claiming that EMC is taking advice from JP Morgan Chase on the matter.

EMC declined to comment.