Saint Louis - Business and Technology News

HP and Compaq Merger Creates $87 Billion Company
PALO ALTO, CA, (BUSINESS WIRE), Sept 4, 2001 - Hewlett-Packard Company and Compaq Computer Corporation announced today a definitive merger agreement to create an $87 billion global technology leader. Carly Fiorina, chairman and chief executive officer of HP, will be chairman and CEO of the new HP. Michael Capellas, chairman and chief executive officer of Compaq, will be president.

The merger is expected to generate cost synergies reaching approximately $2.5 billion annually and drive a significantly improved cost structure. Based on both companies' last four reported fiscal quarters, the new HP would have approximate pro forma assets of $56.4 billion, annual revenues of $87.4 billion and annual operating earnings of $3.9 billion. It would also have operations in more than 160 countries and over 145,000 employees.

Carly Fiorina, chairman and CEO of the new HP. Photo courtesy of HP.

"This is a decisive move that accelerates our strategy and positions us to win by offering even greater value to our customers and partners," said Fiorina. "In addition to the clear strategic benefits of combining two highly complementary organizations and product families, we can create substantial shareowner value through significant cost structure improvements and access to new growth opportunities. At a particularly challenging time for the IT industry, this combination vaults us into a leadership role with customers and partners -- together we will shape the industry for years to come."

Capellas said, "We are creating a new kind of industry leader -- one founded on customer success, world-class engineering, and best of breed products and services. In sharp contrast to our competitors, we are committed to leading the industry to open, market-unifying architectures and interoperability, which reduce complexity and cost for our customers. With this move, we will change the basis of competition in the industry."

Under the terms of the agreement, unanimously approved by both Boards of Directors, Compaq shareowners will receive 0.6325 of a newly issued HP share for each share of Compaq, giving the merger a current value of approximately $25 billion. HP shareowners will own approximately 64% and Compaq shareowners 36% of the merged company. The transaction, which is expected to be tax-free to shareowners of both companies for U.S. federal income tax purposes, will be accounted for as a purchase.

The merged entity will be headquartered in Palo Alto and retain a significant presence in Houston, which will be a key strategic center of engineering excellence and product development.

Since joining HP in July 1999, Fiorina has led HP's reinvention as a company that makes the Internet work for businesses and consumers. Under her leadership, HP has returned to its roots of innovation and inventiveness and is focused on delivering the best total customer experience.

Prior to joining HP, she spent nearly 20 years at AT&T and Lucent Technologies, where she held a number of senior leadership positions in sales and marketing. As president of Lucent's Global Service Provider Business, she expanded the company's international business and spearheaded the planning and execution of its initial public offering and subsequent spin-off from AT&T.

Fiorina concluded, "Clearly, the potential of this combination is compelling, but we understand the magnitude of the challenge and the need for discipline and speed. We're helped by the fact that both companies have been pursuing similar organizational structures and sales force models, and there is immense talent resident in both organizations. We have done comprehensive integration planning and have clear metrics to drive our success. We are committed to achieving the synergies we have identified while maintaining our competitive position and momentum in the marketplace."

St. Louis Web Developers Group Supports Merger Between IWA and HWG
ST. LOUIS, (Special to SLFP.com), Sept 4, 2001 - The St. Louis Web Developers Group has announced its support of a merger between its parent organization, the International Webmasters Association (IWA) and the HTML Writers Guild (HWG). The prospects for the combined resources of the two organizations are exciting. The HTML Writers Guild excels with its mailing lists, posting of technical inquiries with answers, plus its wide selection of online classes. The strength of the IWA is in its local chapters, where members can learn from timely presentations and network with other local experts.

In a recent renumbering of its chapters, the IWA ranked St. Louis as its number one chapter due to the activity and innovative programs of the group. As the local chapter of the International Webmasters Association, the St. Louis Web Developers Group holds an annual awards competition with over $15,000 in prizes, provides a job board for members, and maintains a library of technical books and reviews.

St. Louis is gaining recognition as a high-tech community and becoming known as the "Silicon Valley of the Midwest." The goal of the St. Louis Web Developers Group is to provide local designers with the resources and knowledge to create the best sites possible. The slogan of the organization is: "Your gateway to creating better Web sites."

The St. Louis Web Developers Group has been in existence since 1996, and membership has doubled over the past two years to approximately 800 people. See stlwebdev.org for more details on this organization.

The IWA comprises more than 24,000 individual members in 106 countries and has more than 100 local chapters. The group also promotes standards and offers Certified Web Professional (CWP) programs. The HTML Writers Guild, founded in 1994, consists of more than 123,000 members in approximately 150 nations.

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