A lawsuit has been filed in United States District Court for the Northern District of California on behalf of all persons who held Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HWP) common stock as of January 28, 2002.
The complaint alleges that defendants, including HP and certain officers and directors, violated Section 14(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 by omitting material information in the Proxy materials which were filed with the SEC and distributed to shareholders in connection with the proposed merger with Compaq Computer (NYSE:CPQ), and that the individual defendants violated their fiduciary duties of care, loyalty and candor to the detriment of the Company's public shareholders.
The action seeks to enjoin defendants from proceeding with, soliciting for, having shareholders vote on, or closing the transaction between HP and Compaq until a corrective proxy statement has been issued and until the individual defendants carry out their fiduciary duties to HP shareholders by re-evaluating Compaq's worth as a merger/acquisition candidate, and to compensate shareholders for damages suffered as a result of the acts alleged.