Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : Compaq -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: hlpinout who wrote (94637)	1/9/2002 7:17:33 AM
From: hlpinout	Respond to of 97611

January 09, 2002 03:28 Hewlett-Packard CEO Needles Skeptics of Compaq Deal at Las Vegas Expo By Sam Diaz, San Jose Mercury News, Calif. Jan. 9--LAS VEGAS--When Carly Fiorina took the stage at the Consumer Electronics Show Tuesday, no one was sure whether the Hewlett-Packard chief executive would mention the drama surrounding the proposed merger with Compaq Computer. But not only did she mention the merger as a means of selling her vision for HP and its role in the future of digital imaging, she took a few jabs at the skeptics who are trying to kill the $24 billion purchase of Compaq. Fiorina didn't name names. She didn't need to. She and dissident HP board member Walter Hewlett, son of company co-founder William Hewlett, have been grabbing headlines for weeks about the in-fighting over the deal. The only names she mentioned were those of co-founders Hewlett and David Packard and the "courage, determination and aspiration" they held in bringing the company from a two-man operation in a Palo Alto garage to one of the biggest names in Silicon Valley and around the world. "Every step along the way, there have been skeptics who said it won't work, it won't sell, it won't succeed, it's not the HP way," Fiorina said. "To every single person who said it's never been done before, Bill and Dave replied, `Yes, but there's never been a company like Hewlett-Packard before.'" The merger, she said, will turn HP into the leader of the digital imaging industry, doing what Sony, Olympus and Canon can't do. "Our merger with Compaq is about building the industry's best technology portfolio," she said. "The power is in the combination, the combination of products into a compelling solution and combination of companies into market leadership." Fiorina spoke about the future and how a powerhouse company like the new HP could change the way consumers -- and businesses -- take, manipulate, store and share digital images. She showcased one of HP's best-selling digital cameras and one of its leading photo printers -- showing the ease of connecting the elements both with and without the use of a personal computer. By far, Fiorina's 45-minute speech was more about the importance of digital photography to everyday consumers and the way HP wants to revolutionize the industry. "The people of HP have always known that the only constant in this industry has been change," she said. "There is no future in the status quo. HP can't be frozen in time." The company's co-founders were leaders, not followers, in the industry. And they chose to acquire companies whose technologies complimented their own, she said. That, she said, is why the proposed merger with Compaq is so crucial. "This is a strategic move, one that both boards and management teams want to do, believe they must do and know we can do," she said. "To the skeptics who say it won't work, it won't sell, it won't succeed, it's not the HP way, I say you don't know the people of the new HP." -----

To: hlpinout who wrote (94637)	1/9/2002 7:18:19 AM
From: hlpinout	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 97611

Follow up to the article El posted yesterday. -- January 09, 2002 03:28 Hewlett-Packard Executives Pitch Compaq Computer Deal to Retirees By Therese Poletti, San Jose Mercury News, Calif. Jan. 9--Hewlett-Packard executives are reaching out to thousands of retirees of the venerable Palo Alto-based computer company as they try to win shareholder votes for HP's proposed $24 billion purchase of Compaq Computer. This morning, HP Chief Executive Carly Fiorina, Chief Financial Officer Bob Wayman and other top executives will meet with 300 to 400 retirees for two hours at the company's Cupertino campus. Separately, the company is settling a class-action lawsuit brought last January by retiree Mark Leonard of Los Altos, who claimed that HP broke its promise to provide lifetime discounts on HP products to retirees. Leonard, who left HP in February 1999, was re-classified as a retiree of Agilent Technologies after HP spun off its test and measurement businesses into Agilent. Following the reclassification, Leonard was told he was no longer eligible for rebates of as much as 10 percent on HP products that all HP "Gold Badge" retirees are entitled to receive. Leonard filed the lawsuit on behalf of himself and all HP "Gold Badge" retirees who were reclassified as Agilent retirees -- about 3,800 people. According to a proposed settlement filed with Santa Clara County Superior Court, HP agreed to reinstate the discount effective Nov. 19, 2001, and form a $150,000 fund so that retirees can make claims and receive retroactive discounts on HP products already purchased. HP spokesman Dave Berman declined to comment Tuesday on the proposed settlement, which hasn't yet been approved by the court. "Until it's approved, we can't discuss any details," Berman said. Ron Katz, Leonard's attorney, said he believed that it's just a coincidence that HP is settling the case now, as it tries to win shareholder support for the Compaq deal. "They just didn't have any legal arguments against us," Katz said. But it's clear HP believes its retirees are an important constituency in its fight to win approval for the Compaq deal. Walter Hewlett and David W. Packard, sons of HP's co-founders, are leading the battle against the acquisition, arguing that it doesn't make financial sense. Packard has also argued that the deal violates HP's core principles, known as the HP Way. The founding families have pledged to vote the 18.1 percent stake in HP that they control against the acquisition. While HP says it doesn't know how much of its stock is held by retirees, the amount is probably a small percentage of 1.94 billion shares. However, HP's thousands of retirees are a vocal and organized group, and many of them are critical of the deal. "Carly, in my opinion, is in deep trouble," said Bill Fallon, 81, who retired from HP in 1986 after 22 years and was reclassified an Agilent retiree. "She needs votes, and she isn't going to get any retirees' votes as far as I know." Fiorina, Wayman and two other executives involved with the acquisition, Webb McKinney and Susan Bowick, will make their case for the deal and take questions at today's session. A second session for those retirees who could not get into today's session, including Agilent retirees, is planned for February. HP also will send retirees a videotape of the presentation. -----

To: hlpinout who wrote (94637)	1/9/2002 7:25:50 AM
From: hlpinout	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 97611

CES - HP must keep moving forward, Fiorina says By Douglas F. Gray January 8, 2002 7:48 pm PT CARLY FIORINA HAS not softened her position on the proposed merger between Hewlett-Packard Co. and Compaq Computer Corp. If anything, HP's chief executive officer has become even more combative in the face of criticism from opponents of the merger. Fiorina began her keynote here at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in her typically esoteric way, talking the audience through the history of imaging, from the first drawing through the digital camera, joking that attendees had probably expected to hear a stump speech about the proposed merger. The joke didn't last long, however. Fiorina used examples of the integration between HP's printing and digital camera business as a springboard to discuss "the power of combination" -- specifically, the combination of HP and Compaq. "HP cannot be a company frozen in time," Fiorina said. "We cannot sustain our company by standing still." Throughout her keynote, Fiorina drove home the need for HP to move forward through the proposed merger with Compaq. "There is no future in the status quo," she said. Fiorina also laid claim to the legacy of HP co-founder Bill Hewlett by quoting him when she proclaimed: "To remain static is to lose ground." The proposed merger, which was once valued at as much as US$25 billion, has so far traveled a bumpy road, riddled with obstacles including vocal opposition to the deal from Walter Hewlett, the son of HP's co-founder and namesake. Family members of co-founder David Packard and the boards of various family trusts have also voiced their opposition to the merger, saying that it would destroy the value of HP's shares and bury the company in the waning PC market. Shareholders of the two companies are expected to vote on the merger early this year, although a specific date has not yet been set. Fiorina also used her keynote to introduce the PhotoSmart 812 digital camera, featuring a technology called Instant Share. Using the camera, users take a picture and push a couple of buttons to mark it with preset profiles, Fiorina said. A user can have one pre-set profile, for example, for a friend who prefers to receive photos through e-mail, and another for someone who prefers printed photos. When the camera is plugged into its docking station, which is attached to a PC, it automatically launches applications according to the profile selected for each photo, Fiorina said. If a photo is designated for e-mail, the e-mail application will automatically be launched and the photo will be e-mailed, while those selected to be printed will be automatically printed, she said. The PhotoSmart 812 will be available in late March, Fiorina said. Douglas F. Gray is a San Francisco correspondent for the IDG News Service, an InfoWorld affiliate.