H-P acquires Compaq
New York - Hewlett-Packard (H-P) has acquired Compaq Computer for $25 billion to become worlds second largest computer company next only to the IBM.
Both H-P and Compaq had recently witnessed a slump in revenues and profits as result of slowdown of economy.
The combined revenue of H-P and Compaq at $87 billion is next only to the $90 billion reported by IBM, and much above the $33 billion for Dell Computer.
Carly S. Fiorina of H-P will become chairman and chief executive of the combined company, also to be known H-P, which would be based in Palo Alto, California. Michael D. Capellas, the Compaq chairman and chief executive, would become president.
The Houston-based Compaq began in 1982 as a maker of personal computers and became very popular in its first 15 years.
In India, the merger is expected to hit the hardware and services business of HCL, Wipro and Satyam. Consumers may not be benefited much as the merger is not likely to lead to a drop in the prices of computers.
Back to News Review index page  

LIC's premium payments through net soon
Chennai - Life Insurance Corporation has entered into tie-ups with two payment gateways to enable its policy-holders pay premium through the Internet. Addressing a press conference here, LICs south central zonal manager Madan Mohan Mukherjee said the required infrastructure and machinery were being set up at divisional and branch offices.
Mr Mukherjee said with a view to facilitating reduced response time in service delivery the LIC would set up a toll-free telephone line, call centre in the divisional office and revamp the grievance redressal machinery.
LIC also plans to expand the number of metro area network (MAN) centres and introduce interactive voice responsive system (IVRS) centres across the country.
In the South Central Zone, LIC has 93 branches connected with MAN centres in the zone, proposed to expand them by another 79 branches in these centres and 78 new MAN centres at new branches in the zone.
The corporation has tied up with two payment gateways -- Billjunction.com and Timesofmoney.com -- for enabling the policy-holders to pay premium through the Internet. LIC has also tied up with ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, UTI Bank and Bank of Punjab for remitting premium of their customers and debiting their account after the remittance.
Back to News Review index page