Hewlett family sells shares
January 4, 2002: 5:21 p.m. ET
Hewlett family foundation, opposed to merger, recently sold 5.5M shares.
money.cnn.com
Hewlett files Compaq proxy - Dec. 27, 2001
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A Hewlett family foundation headed by the chief opponent of Hewlett-Packard Co.'s merger with Compaq Computer Corp. recently sold 5.5 million shares of HP stock, the foundation's finance chief said on Friday.
The move marginally shrinks the bloc of shares committed in opposition to the deal and the forces that Walter Hewlett, the foundation chairman and son of HP founder Bill Hewlett, can call upon in his pitched battle over Hewlett-Packard's (HWP: Research, Estimates) future.
The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation also sold the stock after Nov. 6, when Hewlett, the son of founder Bill Hewlett, announced his opposition to the merger, sparking a 17 percent run-up in the stock for the day on expectations the deal could be scuttled.
But foundation Chief Financial Officer Laurance Hoagland said by telephone an investment committee made the decision independently of Hewlett and, as part of an effort to diversify its portfolio, valued at more than $3 billion.
"I actually haven't talked to Walter about that. So I don't know if he would have a preference between keeping the votes and the other value of being sure the foundation interest is given paramount importance here," Hoagland said. "The whole process is set up to avoid a conflict of interest."
Hewlett is soliciting shareholder votes against the $24.8 billion merger and the 5.5 million shares sold represent a 0.3 percent ownership interest that would otherwise have supported his position when the vote is taken, a move expected no sooner than late February.
The foundation still holds some 36.5 million shares and the 5.5 million it sold is a small portion of the roughly 18 percent bloc of HP stock held by founding family members and foundations opposed to the deal. Even so, analysts have cautioned the merger vote may be decided by a slim margin. |
