Some Capellas Comments(CBS MarketPulse)
by: skeptically 03/07/02 11:01 am
Msg: 275953 of 275953
www2.marketwatch.com ewsalert&dateid=37322.4423032407-797895521
10:36am 03/07/02 Compaq CEO: Not going anywhere (CPQ) By Allen Wan
Compaq Computer (CPQ) CEO Michael Capellas told CBS.MarketWatch.com in an interview that he expects to remain with the company even if the planned merger with Hewlett-Packard (HWP) were to unexpectedly fall through. "I fully intend to be around," he said, adding that he expected the board to stay in its current form as well. The prospects of the biggest tech merger of all time increased dramatically Wednesday after the FTC gave the go-ahead for the $22 billion merger without requiring any major restrictions. In an interview that will be broadcast on CBS MarketWatch Weekend, Capellas also said that he expects the struggling PC sector to rebound in the short term. Capellas said that while the PC sector had probably its worst year in 15 years in 2001, he also expects improvement as demand for Net services continues to rise. "The fact is that people will look at new and innovative ways to access the Internet," he said. "I'm bullish on the PC business in the short-term cycle," he said. The odds of a merger have grown after influential shareolder adviser ISS gave its approval for the deal Tuesday. Of the ISS, Capellas said that while the merger isn't a lock, the group's consent was "extremely important." "It's important as the role they do play and they are experts in corporate governance," he said. Capellas also said that the two companies are better together than apart because a combined company would drive create an enterprise leader in services, storage and services. "All the elements needed as you think out 2-3 years (down the road)." He said the goal of the combined firm wasn't to topple Dell (DELL) as the leader in the PC market. "That's clearly not the objective," he said. Capellas said that Compaq hadn't look for another potential merger partner beyond H-P. "This was the only alternative that makes any sense." Shares of Compaq were up 0.5 percent, while those of H-P were down 1.2 percent. The deal goes before H-P shareholders on March 19th. |
