ISS ruling on HP-Compaq Tuesday
Determination from proxy advisory firm set for next week, FTC also to rule.
March 1, 2002: 5:21 p.m. ET
By Luisa Beltran
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NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Institutional Shareholder Services, whose recommendation is critical to Hewlett Packard Co.'s proposed $22 billion takeover of Compaq Corp., will make its determination on Tuesday.
Rockville, Md.-based ISS, a proxy advisory service, is set to release its recommendation Tuesday at 4 p.m. EST, the company said. Some institutional shareholders have hired ISS to advise on the HP-Compaq merger.
ISS has held discussions with the management of both HP (HWP: up $0.09 to $20.21, Research, Estimates) and Compaq (CPQ: up $0.30 to $10.44, Research, Estimates) this week as well as with dissident director Walter Hewlett, said company spokesman Pat McGurn. Hewlett has launched a bitter proxy battle to stop the merger and is reportedly trying to lure former Hewlett-Packard Chairman Lew Platt to head HP if the Compaq takeover fails.
Most expect HP chairman and CEO Carly Fiorina to leave the company if the merger does not succeed. "Walter Hewlett intends to discuss these issues with the board after the deal is defeated in an executive session with all the outside directors," a spokesman for Hewlett said.
CNN/Money reported last Tuesday that ISS would make its determination early next week. The Federal Trade Commission is also set to approve the merger next week.
ISS would give no hint Friday on which way it will lean. "This will all be laid out at that point in time," ISS's McGurn said,
Analysts have said that HP's takeover of Compaq needs the approval of 67 percent of institutional shareholders, giving ISS's decision significant weight. 
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