JPMorgan analyst Rod Hall says his analysis shows that a takeover of EMC (EMC) by Dell would be feasible up to $29 per share without using offshore cash. If offshore cash were also available, Dell could pay as much as $37 per share for EMC, Hall tells investors in a research note. He doubts "anything close" to such a "huge" premium would be required by EMC's board and investors, however. Shares of EMC closed yesterday up $1.22 to $27.18 after the Wall Street Journal and others reported that Dell is in talks to buy the company. Hall views the potential combination as "strategically sound" given the greater data center footprint of the combined entity, potential for better leveraging VMware (VMW) and potential for cost efficiencies. Yesterday the analyst told investors that EMC buying Dell is more likely than the reverse given the relative sizes of the two companies and the likely desire of Michael Dell and Silver Lake to exit their investments.