Compaq confident shareholders to back HP merger

LOS ANGELES: Compaq Computer Corp. chief executive Michael Capellas said on

Tuesday he was "very confident" that shareholders of the Houston-based

company would approve a merger with Hewlett-Packard Co. in a vote scheduled for

Wednesday.

Capellas, speaking in an interview from Houston with the CNBC business

network, said Compaq also thought the merger would be approved by a "very

comfortable margin" based on indications from institutional investors.

"I'm absolutely confident that we'll be pushing forward. We have a very

clear indication. We know what the major institutions are. We have a very clear

view of the retail vote and we have a very clear view of the employee

vote," Capellas told CNBC.

The comments came just hours after a contentious HP shareholder vote in

Cupertino, California, on the $21 billion deal, which would see HP buy Compaq.

HP management claimed victory after the vote, saying that a slim majority of

shares had been voted for the merger, but dissident HP director Walter Hewlett

refused to concede defeat.