After eight months of dueling with opponents on Wall Street and in the Hewlett and Packard families, Hewlett-Packard is finally on the verge of closing its $18 billion acquisition of rival Compaq Computer.
A Delaware judge ruled yesterday that HP did nothing wrong in the bitter proxy fight over the Compaq deal, paving the way for the takeover after former director Mr Walter Hewlett sued in a final attempt to sink the merger.
Mr Hewlett claimed HP bullied a big investor into supporting the Compaq deal and lied to investors about the progress of the merger plans. But Judge William B. Chandler said Mr Hewlett failed to prove his allegations in a three-day trial last week in Wilmington, Delaware.
The decision prompted Mr Hewlett, 57, to admit defeat. The son of HP cofounder Mr William Hewlett said he will not appeal Judge Chandler's decision and will abandon his challenge of the HP shareholder vote that the company won 51.4 per cent to 48.6 per cent one of the closest corporate elections in years.
PA