HP Seals the Deal, Buys EDS For $14B

netbuzz writes "Following yesterday's spate of heated rumors, the announcement comes this morning that HP has completed a deal to buy EDS for just under $14 billion. The acquisition has been approved by the boards of both companies, according to HP. EDS CEO Ron Rittenmeyer has issued an e-mail to his employees promising that the company brand will continue and, "We are — and will remain — EDS."

Re:Heh...

[Gigiya]

Why would Compaq's employees want to stay Compaq?

Re:The Deal will

[Anonymous Coward]

EDS are a useless shower of bastards who will be first against the wall when the revolution comes. Utterly incompetent, they have an over-inflated sense of self-importance which is continually bolstered by corporations and governments who continue, against all evidence and logic, to truck huge wads of cash over to the aforementioned useless bastards who then fuck it all up and deliver shit, late.

The UK government has already given the cunts enough of my cash that I should own a couple of EDS offices by now. Instead we've got sweet F.A.

Re:The day after.

[Danathar]

This is not a bad thing. Having worked for EDS in the 90's I can tell you that ANYTHING is better than that overbloated stuffed shirt company.

Working for EDS is well known as the ninth hell of IT. HP is probably further up in Dante's list but I'm sure it IS futher up.

Re:The Deal will

[Anonymous Coward]

Please don't hold back. Tell us what you really think.

Re:Heh...

[Lord_Frederick]

'Tis better to have sporked and lost than never to have sporked at all.

employee speaking

[C0vardeAn0nim0]

as an employee, all i want to know is when we here at EDS will be able to buy HP gear with employee's discount...

20% off on a laser printer would be sweeeet!!!

Re:Heh...

[Anonymous Coward]

The surviving Compaq portions of the combined company still have a lot of Compaq culture in them, but the HP culture is slowly eating that away.

What? Letting engineers run things, designing interesting equipment with exotic cutting-edge technology, with everybody getting their own key to the stockroom for personal projects? Service manuals written like EE textbooks? Bean counters shot on sight?

Oh, wait, wrong HP.

Transcript of the final phone negotiations:

[Ancient_Hacker]

EDS: 16?
HP: No, how about 12?

EDS: 15?
HP: You're getting warmer, how about 13?

EDS: 14?
HP: Okay, that sounds good, but we don't have 14 ink cartridges here, how about 14 billion in cash?

EDS: Well, ok......

Re:The day after.

[AchilleTalon]

You have to wonder how current EDS customers who are attached to their non HP hardware and software will feel about this when EDS suddenly has a massive bias to drive every nail with an HP hammer.

"Hitting your thumb is equally painful whatever the hammer's brand."

- Confuscius -

Re:employee speaking

[Anonymous Coward]

As a former HP employee, I hate to say you're out of luck. Our discounts were terrible.

My cost center manager once had me buy an HP 6110 all-in-one from Staples because it was cheaper than the employee discount.

Re:Heh...

[BBandCMKRNL]

Someone can define Digital's culture?

Yes.
Digital - The beatings will continue until morale improves. The CEO has a reserved parking spot for his luxury car, eats lunch in his private dinning room, and a 24 x 7 security detail.

DEC - The CEO parks his 10 year old pickup truck, the same one he uses to haul his trash to the dump on weekends, in any empty parking spot because he doesn't have a reserved one, eats lunch in the cafe like everyone else, and only has a security detail when the BoD demands it. He comes down to the hardware labs to not only admire your project but to actually understand it.

Unfortunately, Ken didn't understand business as well as he understood technology. But then Robert Palmer didn't understand either.