(Reuters) - Software security company Symantec Corp (>> Symantec Corporation) is in talks to sell its Veritas data storage business to private equity firm Carlyle Group LP (>> The Carlyle Group LP), a person familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

The exact status of the talks could not be learned. Bloomberg News reported earlier that Symantec was nearing a deal to sell Veritas to Carlyle for between $7 billion and $8 billion, citing people with knowledge of the matter.

The Reuters source asked not to be identified because the negotiations are confidential. Symantec did not immediately respond to a request for comment, while Carlyle declined to comment.

Symantec shares rose 2.64 percent in after-hours trading, after closing up 0.5 percent, at $22.79, in regular trade on the Nasdaq.

Symantec has been seeking buyers for Veritas for several months but interest from potential buyers had been limited because of a tax burden associated with splitting the company.

Symantec had been planning separate its business focused on corporate and consumer security software, which had $4.2 billion in revenue last year, from Veritas, which has about $2.5 billion in revenue. It announced the tax-free spinoff last October.

Investor pressure has been building on legacy technology companies such as Symantec to become more agile and capitalize on faster-growing businesses, whether it's through corporate breakups or divestitures.

In addition to Symantec, Hewlett-Packard Co (>> Hewlett-Packard Company) and eBay Inc (>> eBay Inc) have announced major breakups and spinoffs, and more could be on the way. Activist investor Elliott Management has been pressuring EMC Corp (>> EMC Corporation) to sell its stake in VMWare (>> VMware, Inc.) and has urged Citrix Systems (>> Citrix Systems, Inc.) to create more shareholder value and sell some of its businesses.

(Reporting by Greg Roumeliotis in New York; Additional reporitng by Liana B. Baker; Editing by Leslie Adler)

By Greg Roumeliotis