Will HP Be Broken Up?

HP has been urged by investment bank UBS to break itself up in order to boost its share price.

After years of mismanagement, HP’s stock price is far lower than it was during the heady dotcom bubble days when it pulled off one of the biggest mergers in recent years by buying Compaq. Now the firm’s stock price languishes around the $14 mark, a figure that could top $20 if HP were to break itself up, according to UBS.

UBS analysts including Steven Milunovich reported the firm could “realise greater value” by splitting itself up. The analysts added that each separate division of HP is big enough to stand on its own, claiming, “HP’s units are not minnows but rather they are whales packed into the same pond.”

HP spokesman Michael Thacker claimed the firm’s customers want a big HP, effectively allowing them to have one supplier for their IT needs, a message the firm has been playing up for a number of years now. Thacker said, “No matter how you look at it we are confident that HP is stronger together than apart. The company’s operations across business units are deeply integrated and our customers have told us that they want One HP.”

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