A potential offer by IBM for rival US technology company Sun Microsystems could provide some rare good news for KKR Private Equity Investors, the publicly traded fund created by the private equity firm to invest in its deals, which this month reported a decrease in the value of its Sun holdings.

The Wall Street Journal. which like Financial News is owned by Dow Jones, reported that IBM is in talks to buy Sun Microsystems although a deal may not occur. The report said if the deal goes ahead IBM is likely to pay at least $6.5bn (€4.9bn) in cash for the acquisition citing people with the matter.