Icahn Suggested HP Buy Xerox With Offer About to Go Public

  • Activist investor wanted HP to pay $45 a share for Xerox
  • HP preparing to announce dividend and buyback plan next week
The Xerox logo is displayed at their booth at a conference.Photographer: Tony Avelar/Bloomberg
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Xerox Holdings Corp.’s largest shareholder made a suggestion as the printer maker was preparing to go public with its takeover offer for HP Inc. in November: buy us instead.

Activist investor Carl Icahn raised the idea of HP acquiring Xerox for $45 a share in a phone call with HP Chief Executive Officer Enrique Lores in November, according to people familiar with the matter. HP executives viewed the proposal as over-valuing Xerox and decided not to pursue it, said the people, who asked to not be identified because the matter isn’t public.