HP/Compaq: Commerce Commission could act on merger

New Zealand’s Commerce Commission may investigate the Hewlett-Packard takeover of Compaq.

“We are making preliminary inquiries to see if there is any action we should take or could take,” says communications officer Jackie Maitland. She could not say what actions might be possible from a New Zealand base respecting an international merger. “It depends on the nature of the merger.”

At Computerworld press time, the commission had spoken to HP New Zealand’s managing director, Barry Hastings, but not, as far as Maitland knew, to local management at Compaq. A definite conclusion had still not been reached at that point.