Compaq: SEC Asked It to Set Aside HP Vote Papers
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Compaq Computer Corp. (NYSE:CPQ - news) on Friday said the Securities and Exchange Commission has asked it to hold onto documents related to the vote by Hewlett-Packard Co.(NYSE:HWP - news) shareholders on its $20 billion purchase of Compaq.
Palo Alto, California-based HP said earlier this week that its March 19 vote on the deal, which is being contested, is the subject of an informal inquiry by the Securities and Exchange Commission and an investigation by federal prosecutors.
Walter Hewlett, a dissident board member and son of a founder, has been fighting the merger for months and filed a lawsuit in March saying that computer and printer company HP swayed one of its large shareholders, Deutsche Bank AG (DBKGn.DE), to back the plan by promising it future business.
HP has denied all wrongdoing.
A spokeswoman for Houston, Texas-based Compaq said that the SEC has asked it and other parties ``to preserve documents that might be related to the HP vote.''
An SEC spokeswoman declined to comment.
The Compaq spokeswoman said the company has not been contacted by any other agency or government entity reviewing the HP vote.
HP also said earlier this week that federal regulators had subpoenaed it for information related to the votes of Deutsche Bank and Northern Trust Corp., which also owns HP shares. |
