MAY 1, 2002

HP for Williams?

THE lengthy battle surrounding the merger of Compaq and Hewlett-Packard is over following Walter Hewlett's decision not to pursue the matter further. Hewlett, the son of the company founder, had fought the merger saying it was a huge mistake to take on $18bn of debt to buy Compaq. He was beaten in a vote of the HP shareholders but then challenged the result in a Delaware court. The case has been dismissed and Hewlett has now admitted defeated leaving the HP chief executive Carly Fiorina to finally get on with the integration of the two businesses. Hewlett has been removed from the HP board of directors.

The interesting thing now will be to see what the company decides to do with its Formula 1 sponsorships: Jordan has a small deal with HP, Williams has a deal with Compaq.