Xerox to hold a dinner for HP shareholders to win investors’ support for its takeover bid

Xerox Holdings Corp had recently offered a takeover bid worth $35 billion to HP Inc. Since the PC manufacturer was not impressed of the deal’s valuation, Xerox has now resorted directly to HP’s shareholders in an attempt to get investors’ support. As per the sources, the U.S printer maker plans to host a dinner for HP’s shareholders later this week.

Ahead of the tender offer that is likely to be launched later this year in March, Xerox announced last week to have raised its takeover bid (cash and stock) for HP by $2 per share. Xerox now wishes to buy HP Inc. at $24 per share, as per the specifics of the bid. The printer maker also plans on convincing HP’s shareholders to replace the PC maker’s board directors with nominees that Xerox itself is expected to reveal later this year.

HP To Announce Quarterly Performance Results On February 24^th

HP closed last week in the stock market at $22.37 per share. The company is expected to announce its quarterly performance results on February 24^th, ahead of which, it reiterates and brands Xerox’s offer as insufficient. HP recently addressed to its shareholders and highlighted that it wishes to put the entire information on their disposal before they can publicly announce their decision regarding Xerox’s takeover bid.

According to the sources, Xerox is hosting an invitation-only dinner for the prominent investors of HP on February 18^th in Greenwich, Connecticut. CEO John Visentin of Xerox is likely to attend the dinner.

In an event that the majority of the shareholders support CEO Enrique Lores of HP, the company will then be in a position to either wait for a renegotiated offer from Xerox or continue operations as an independent business.

While HP and Xerox are yet to comment on the recent development, sources also anticipated more of such meetings to be held in the upcoming weeks.

HP’s Market Capitalization Is Currently Four Times That Of Xerox

Meanwhile, Xerox remains confident of its merger with HP. At $8 billion, HP’s market capitalization is currently four times that of Xerox. The printer maker expects to yield cost synergies worth $2 billion following the acquisition.

HP had decided to part ways from Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Inc. in 2015, that is known for its equipment in servers and networking niche. As of 2017, HP had invested $1.05 billion in Samsung Electronics to acquire its printer business.

Xerox closed last week in the stock market at $37.82 per share that marks an over 2% gain in 2020 so far.