On Monday, Associated Press reported that database management specialists at Quest Software received a higher buyout offer from unnamed bidder. It was an offer of $27.50 per share, worth about $2.32 billion.

The big increased after the company announced in March it was being bought by investment firm Insight Venture Partners for $23 per share, the AP report stated. The Aliso Viejo, Calif.-based software company said the Insight deal was valued at about $2 billion.

Quest said the March bid offered a 19-percent premium to the company's closing stock price the day before the deal was announced. The $27.50-per-share offering announced Monday would represent a 42-percent premium to Quest's ending price of $19.40 from March 8.

Shares of Quest, however, reportedly rose $1.37, or 5.2 percent, to $27.59 in midday trading on Monday. Consequently, the AP report suggests that investors think there may be yet another higher offer in the pipeline.

Meanwhile, Quest said its board has decided that the most recent offer of $27.50 per share is far better than earlier bids. Officials have therefore informed Insight and its partner Vector Capital about the latest offers.

The report said Insight and Vector have three days to match the offer.

According to Reuters, the improved worth $2.32 billion comes from Dell Inc., the number-two U.S. PC maker. Takeover talks are private, according to the source.

While Dell declined to comment on this deal, a Quest representative was not immediately available for comments, according to Nadia Damouni and Supantha Mukherjee.

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