Walter Hewlett, the Hewlett-Packard Co shareholder who is waging a proxy battle to stop HP from buying Compaq Computer Corp, said on Sunday that he was confident the deal would be defeated.
In an open letter to HP stockholders, Hewlett said he is "ever more confident that the proposed Compaq merger will be defeated," and urged holders to vote against the deal.
Hewlett-Packard shareholders are slated to vote on the proposed $22 billion merger on March 19.
On Friday, U.S. pension fund giant Calpers said it would vote against the deal, in part due to the high premium being paid for Compaq.
Hewlett also cited another fund, the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board, one of the largest pension funds in Canada, which said it would vote its shares against the deal.
Hewlett, a dissident HP board member and son one of the company's co-founders, has assembled a block of about 20 percent of the votes in his campaign to defeat the deal, which he says could destroy one of Silicon Valley's most respected corporations.
Palo Alto, Calif.-based Hewlett-Packard last week cleared its final regulatory hurdle by obtaining Federal Trade Commission approval for the deal.
News source: Reuters - Walter Hewlett Confident HP-Compaq Deal to Fall
