Compaq HP Merger
"There is no more dramatic or controversial activity in corporate
finance than the acquisition of one firm by another or the merger of
two firms. It is the stuff of which reporter's dreams are made, and it
is also an embarrassing source of scandal."(Ross,S.1996)
A merger refers to the absorption of one firm by another. The
acquiring firm retains its name and its identity, and it acquires all
of the assets and liabilities of the acquired firm. After a merger,
the acquired firm ceases to exist as a separate business entity. In
resent years, more and more merger and acquisition happened for those
big companies as a result of intense competition in the business
world. To maintain the competitive position in their respective
industry, merger and acquisition become suitable strategic
alternative, which would bring synergy to both companies. Revenue
enhancement, cost reduction, lower taxes, and lower cost of capital
can be the basic categories of possible sources of synergy.
The merger of Compaq and HP companies is a resent case, which brings
controversial discussion in the public media. When Hewlett-Packard CEO
Carleton S. Fiorina and then-Compaq CEO Michael D. Cpellas met with
investors last fall to sell their controversial merger, many comments
present different opinions on this event. In this case study, it will
focus on the pre-merger of HP and Compaq. By looking insight of the
whole process of the merger, the motivation of the merger will be
identified, as well as its expected synergy resulting from merger.
Important analysis will be of whether the expected effects of the
merger were a reasonable basis for goin...
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1991 - 2001 annual growth rate %-5.7
Total Return to Investors
%
2001 -34.1
1991 - 2001 annual rate14.6
http://cobrands.hoovers.com/
Reference:
Ross, S. 1996, Corporate finance, Richard D. Irwin, Chicago.
Burrows, P. April 1, 2002, what price victory at Hewlett-Packard,
Business Week,
USA
Burrows, P. May 20, 2002, what's in store for this happy couple,
Business Week, USA.
Edwards, C. June 17, 2002, HP and Compaq: IT's showtime, Business
Week, Boston
Source:
Proxy statement
http://thenew.hp.com/
http://www.compaq.com
www.hp.com
http://thenew.hp.com/country
http://www.compaq.com/inside/merger/shareholder.html
http://cobrands.hoovers.com/
http://www.business.com
http://www.businessweek.com/
http://www.compaq.com/corporate
The merger between General Electric (GE) and Honeywell would have been the largest ever merger between two industrial companies, it would have increased GE’s size by almost a third. GE is a leading manufacturer of airplane engines and Honeywell is a leading producer of avionic systems (such as engine starters). It was a stand out merger as it was the first time a merger between two US companies had been solely derailed by the European anti-trust Commission (EC), after having been cleared by the US Department of Justice (DoJ).
Hewlett-Packard is one of the most innovating companies in today's modern world. They specialize in building and producing computer software, hardware, and networking devices, but their main manufactures in their production lines are personal computers and a vast amount of printers. In addition to manufacturing computer technology, they're also involved in various military contracts that help the United States in their defense systems and infrastructure. As a result, how are these contracts helping our country's military progression and why have we developed a partnership with this private company to build numerous long-term contracts? In this paper, I plan to inform you on the company of Hewlett-Packard and how their help to the military has progressed the United States and their war efforts in fighting around the globe.
Many people, with the government are trying to label Microsoft as a monopoly. Why is there any delay going around doing that? There is no reason to brand Microsoft as a monopoly. There is part of monopolistic competition and supply-demand acting on this case.
Gaughan, P. A., 2002. Mergers, Acquisitions, and Corporate restructuring. 3rd ed.New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
The purpose of this paper is to attempt to recompile information about the merger of two corporations; one of many taking places i...
The soft factors can make or break a successful change process, since new structures and strategies are difficult to build upon inappropriate cultures and values. These problems often come up in the dissatisfying results of spectacular mega-mergers. The lack of success and synergies in such mergers is often based in a clash of completely different cultures, values, and styles, which make it difficult to establish effective common systems and structuresBased on the case study, extensive research and annual reports of AT&T the writer has mapped AT&T in the different domains. AT&T should strive to attain a perfect circle as close to the centre as possible, which indicates total synergy, order and equilibrium. Where the circle is skewed drastic change is needed as it moves closer to the outer ring of chaos:
"Microsoft Corporation, is a multinational computer technology corporation with global annual revenue of US$44.28 billion and 71,553 employees in 102 countries as of July 2006. It develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of software products for computing devices. Headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA, its best selling products are the Microsoft Windows operating system and the Microsoft Office suite of productivity software, each of which has achieved near-ubiquity in the desktop computer market. Microsoft possesses footholds in other markets, with assets such as the MSNBC cable television network, the MSN Internet portal, and the Microsoft Encarta multimedia encyclopedia. The company also markets both computer hardware products such as the Microsoft mouse as well as home entertainment products such as the Xbox, Xbox 360 and MSN TV" ("Microsoft").
In 1984, Michael Dell invested $1,000 in start-up capital to register his business as Dell Computer Corporation, which was known as PC's Limited. The company becomes the first in the industry to sell directly to end-users by passing the dominant system of using computers resellers to sell mass-produced computers. Dell Computer also pioneers the industry first thirty-day money back guarantee. It became the cornerstone of Dell's commitment to expand its service offerings, superior customer satisfaction, and the industries first on site service program. It also established its first international subsidiary in the United Kingdom, and raised $30 million in its initial public offering.
I believe that Microsoft has the best intensions for society, because they are constantly developing the software market into a more competitive and challenging industry. Microsoft’s success as a company is partly due to its commitment to making the best product possible and strategic business practices. The first reason Microsoft is not a monopoly is because of the standardized quality of its OS. Second is the intelligent business practices Microsoft has engaged in through many of its business partners. The legal issues of the alleged antitrust accusations from the department of justice are just totally overrated.
Microsoft is currently the largest company in the computer industry. With a market capitalization of $291 billion, Microsoft has built an empire by dominating software sales for personal computers. Stock growth over the past 25 years has increased by more than 30,000%. However, Microsoft’s growth has substantially decreased since the market collapse of 2001(Niemond 25 April 2007).
It was on Friday, November 5, 1999, that Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson had declared Microsoft a monopoly. So, it’s not a question of whether Microsoft is a monopoly, but more so a question of whether it should still be considered a monopoly today. I don’t think that Microsoft should currently be considered a monopoly, but I definitely do believe that it once was. The reason Microsoft should no longer be considered a monopoly is that there are several operating software that now compete with Microsoft. Two of the biggest competitors are Apples OS and Google Chrome's OS. Operating software’s like Apples’ OS and Google Chrome’s OS are close substitutes for Windows. One of the criteria for a firm to be a monopoly is that there are no close substitutes, “A firm is a monopoly if it is the sole seller of its product and if its product does not have any close substitutes (Mankiw 290).” And this
The PC industry is highly competitive and constantly changing as technology evolves and customer needs change. Some of the top competitors in the PC industry are IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Dell and Apple. Theses rivals are constantly jockeying for the top competitor’s position. They compete in prices, product innovation, advertising, etc.
Competitive strategy is the approach that an organisation takes in order to gain advantage over its competitors. According to Porter, there are two major sources of competitive advantages: costs and differentiation. Cost-based competitive advantage involves reducing production costs so that an organisation can earn higher profit margin or offer products at lower price compared to competitors. Differentiation-based competitive advantage involves offering unique properties that are not offered by competitors’ products. Differentiation allows an organisation to charge a premium for their products because they offer additional benefits to buyers.
When entrepreneurs plan their business future they will consider how they can increase their business size or profit in a short period. Entrepreneurs may consider growing their business or company by using a merger or an acquisition. These methods can be a speed up tool and a short cut to enlarge their business. (Burns, 2011) Also they can reduce competition, make it easier for entrepreneurs to think about the market and product development and risk reduction. Furthermore, some lesser – known companies can improve their firm’s image and market power by using merger and acquisition with larger firms. However, there may be risks associated with merger and acquisition related to lack of finance and time. (Burns, 2011) This essay will discuss more deeply the advantages and disadvantages of using mergers and acquisitions, showing how it can affect firms and market with the case study.
Case Study of Dell Computer Corporation Introduction Michael Dell founded Dell Computer Corporation in 1984 with a simple vision and business concept – that personal computers can be built to order and sold directly to consumers. Michael believed his approach had two advantages: (i) by passing distributors and retail dealers eliminated the markups of resellers, and (ii) building to order greatly reduced the costs and risks associated with carrying large stocks of parts, components and finished goods. Its build-to-order and sell-direct approach proved appealing to growing numbers of customers in the mid 1990s as global PC sales rose to record levels. In 1998, it was already the 3rd manufacturer in the United States with a 12% share of PC market and a nearly 6% share worldwide. The company’s fastest growing market for the past several quarters was Europe.