One of the largest makers of PCs in the world is looking corner - or at least gain a firm foothold into - the emerging market for health care technology.

Dell Inc.’s proposed $3.9 billion buyout of Perot Systems Corp. reflects the 2nd-largest personal-computer maker’s ambitions, according to Bloomberg News.

Dell offered a staggering $30 a share in cash this week for Perot, 31 times its earnings in 2009, according to Ben Reitzes of Barclays Capital in New York.

As a reference point, Hewlett-Packard Co. bought Dallas, Tx.-based EDS last year for $13.2 billion, 14 times that company’s 2008 earnings, Reitzes said.

“The Perot deal offers them plenty of opportunities in the health-care and federal space,” said an analyst at Cambridge, Mass.-based Forrester Research Inc.

“Dell can therefore begin the process of building leaner, commodity-based computer services, while offering to be a new and interesting competitor.”

With Perot, Dell gains a partner to boost sales of computer services as consumers and companies trim PC purchases to cope with the world economic slump.

Larger services units helped IBM and Hewlett-Packard withstand the recession better than Dell, whose sales slumped 22 percent last quarter.

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