Deals
HP Will Return $16 Billion to Investors to Parry Xerox Bid
- PC maker boosts buybacks, pledges $1.2 billion in reductions
- Executives say they have engaged Xerox to talk about a deal
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HP Inc. announced it will return $16 billion to shareholders, primarily through buybacks, and boost cost cuts, trying to rally investors against Xerox Holdings Corp. for control of the world’s second-largest personal computer maker.
HP will increase share repurchases to $15 billion from a $5 billion program announced in October. This will result in adjusted profit of $3.25 to $3.65 per share in fiscal 2022, which is about $1 more per share than analysts’ projections. HP executives also said they have engaged Xerox to discuss a potential combination on their terms, rather than succumbing to the printer maker’s hostile takeover effort.