HP and Compaq set voting dates

Hewlett Packard (HP) shareholders have set 19 March as the date for voting on the proposed £17.5bn merger with Compaq. Compaq shareholders will vote on the following day.

Investors who held HP and/or Compaq stock at the close of business on 28 January can vote, the companies have confirmed.

The HP meeting will be watched closely as both the Hewlett and Packard families plan to vote their 18 per cent of outstanding shares against the merger.

Institutional Shareholder Services said that it will release its recommendation on the transaction around 1 March. Some shareholders have indicated that they will base their votes on the investor advisory firm's decision.

Meanwhile, HP chief executive Carly Fiorina said in a speech at a Goldman Sachs conference on 5 February that support for the acquisition "is more than sufficient to win a shareholder vote".

If it is approved, HP and Compaq plan to complete the merger sometime in the first half of the year.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has put the registration statement for its final proxy into effect, and the European Commission has sanctioned the deal.

The two companies have still to gain the approval of the US Federal Trade Commission.

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