Compaq shareholders back merger with HP

Compaq says its shareholders have endorsed the company's plan to merge with Hewlett-Packard by a nine-to-one margin.

Compaq says its shareholders have endorsed the company's plan to merge with Hewlett-Packard by a nine-to-one margin.

The endorsement had been widely anticipated by Wall Street.

Compaq's chairman and chief executive Mr Michael Capellas welcomed the outcome.

He said: "While official certification of the results of HP's shareholder vote is still in process, we stand ready to deliver the superior value that our customers, employees and shareholders expect".

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Hewlett-Packard shareholders voted on the deal a day earlier than their Compaq counterparts, but the official result of HP's closely contested ballot will not be known for a few weeks.

HP chief executive officer Ms Carly Fiorina said early results showed shareholders had backed the deal by a "slim but sufficient" margin.

But HP board member MR Walter Hewlett, the chief campaigner against the merger, claimed the result of the ballot was too close to call.

PA