Huge HP merger report out next week

A firm that advises a number of Hewlett-Packard's large shareholders is set to release a report early next week that for many could be the deciding factor in how they will vote on the proposed Compaq Computer merger. Institutional Shareholder Services will release the report Monday or Tuesday of next week, Vice President Pat McGurn said Friday. The $21 billion merger has been fiercely contested by members of the Hewlett and Packard families. Most recently, Walter Hewlett, who is a company director, released minutes from a board meeting to back up his claims that HP Chief Executive Carly Fiorina and Compaq Chief Executive Michael Capellas could get as much as $115 million total from a proposed compensation package if the deal goes through. Both CEOs also have been wooing institutional shareholders, including ISS, for some time. In late January, Capellas suggested that his company's largest shareholder, Putnam Investment Management, was set to back the deal. --Margaret Kane, Special to ZDNet News