The tally of the March 19 vote means that even if the approximately 17 million shares voted by Deutsche Asset Management in favor of the deal had gone against the merger, HP still would have come out on top. Dissident board member Walter Hewlett is contending in a lawsuit that HP essentially bought Deutsche's approval on the day of the vote.
HP Says Compaq Deal Approved by Small Margin
By Jeffrey Goldfarb
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE:HWP - news) said on Wednesday that it won approval for its controversial merger with Compaq Computer Corp. (NYSE:CPQ - news) by a slim 2.8 percent margin and that it could close the deal inside of two weeks.
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Only 45 million votes separated the two sides out of the 1.63 billion shares voted. HP said 837.9 million shares were voted in favor of the deal while 792.6 million shares were voted against it.
HP called the figures preliminary but said an ``insignificant number'' of votes remain unresolved.
The tally of the March 19 vote means that even if the approximately 17 million shares voted by Deutsche Asset Management in favor of the deal had gone against the merger, HP still would have come out on top. Dissident board member Walter Hewlett is contending in a lawsuit that HP essentially bought Deutsche's approval on the day of the vote.
HP said that if Walter Hewlett, who bitterly fought the merger and continues to dispute the results, should demand a recount, both sides would participate in a review of the proxies, which would take a little more than a week.
Still at issue are the shares voted by the investment arm of Deutsche Bank, which Walter Hewlett claims in his lawsuit were bought by HP, prompting Deutsche to reverse itself. A trial is scheduled to begin April 23 in a Delaware court.
The William R. Hewlett Revocable Trust said the litigation would preclude any final outcome on the merger, but HP officials disputed that argument, saying Hewlett has not asked the court to delay the deal's consummation.
``At this point what is needed for us to close is a certified final tally and right now that could take about a week and a half,'' HP spokeswoman Judy Radlinsky said.
Hewlett has asked the court to order a new shareholder vote or to declare the merger defeated. He won an early battle in the suit when the Delaware court threw out HP's motion to dismiss the case.
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