SOUTHFIELD, Michigan: H Ross Perot Jr said he began talking "chairman to chairman" with Michael Dell two years ago, relying on an old family friendship, before agreeing to Dell Inc's $3.9 billion buyout offer for Perot Systems Corp.

Perot and his father, company founder H Ross Perot Sr, initially declined Dell's suggestion that the companies merge, Perot Jr said in an interview. Dell, the world's second-largest maker of personal computers, and Perot Systems, a provider of computer services, seemed too different, he said.

"I went down to Austin to meet him on Saturday for breakfast a couple of years ago, thinking we were going to do some business together, and Michael broached it," said Perot Jr, chairman of the Plano, Texas-based company. "We really liked each other, but I said no. Dell is in the manufacturing business, we're in services."