U.S. Federal Regulators Approve HP-Compaq Merger

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, March 07, 2002

U.S. Federal Regulators Approve HP-Compaq Merger

U.S. federal regulators approved the merger of Hewlett-Packard Co. with Compaq Computer Corp. on Wednesday, a deal that would be the biggest in high-tech history.

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U.S. federal regulators approved the merger of Hewlett-Packard Co. with Compaq Computer Corp. on Wednesday, a deal that would be the biggest in high-tech history.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said it voted to close its antitrust investigation on the merger deal of 22 billion U.S. dollars. The 5-0 commission vote requires no additional actions from the two computer makers to meet antitrust requirements. But the deal still faces a tough shareholder vote.

The merger, announced last September, is being opposed by heirs of Hewlett-Packard's namesake founders. Those heirs, including Walter Hewlett, own about 18 percent of HP shares through various foundations and individually.

But FTC's approval comes a day after Institutional Shareholder Services, an influential advisor to large pools of institutional equity holders, gave the merger the thumbs up.

A formal vote on the merger was scheduled for March 19 for HP stockholders, and March 20 for those holding Compaq shares.

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