back to article HP recruits Goldman Sachs to grapple activist investors

HP has rented the services of Goldman Sachs Group to fend off any potential activist investors seeking to rock the boat. The WSJ says the investment bank will man the battlements against corporate raiders that could exploit the fallen share price – down by a fifth last month after HP made public its PSG review, canned WebOS …

COMMENTS

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  1. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge
    Holmes

    Oh no! Company owners want to do the ownership thing!

    I don't know whether this article correctly distinguishes between "activist investors" (uppity owners - good) or "corporate raiders" (prospective owners -- not good : rips company apart or good : unlocks value hidden by bad boardroom decisions depending on how you look at it).

  2. John Styles

    "Activist investors may try to boost shareholder value by modifying the corporate policy, initiating cost cutting and seeking divestment from specific territories or business areas."

    Surely cost cutting and divestment from specific territories or business areas was what got them into this mess?

  3. Mondo the Magnificent
    Thumb Down

    B*ll*cks

    So, HP recruit those who cannot be trusted to grapple with those they distrust...

    HP wasting more money to appease shareholders whilst their employees feel the pinch from the "salary & bonus freeze"

  4. Pete 43

    Bouncers

    in other words?

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Where do we open the book?

    "She was pulled onto the board in January by Apotheker and supported the strategy to spin off its PC biz and shelve the TouchPad and Pres3, which is currently being worked through with a decision expected by year end."

    How long do we give Whitman in the post unless a convenient U-turn is announced?

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Looking at the value

    HP's individual divisions summed appear to be worth more than the whole. HP should worry, but getting a group of Pirates in from GS is unlikely to be the answer (see Danegeld - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danegeld)

  7. Marvin the Martian
    Meh

    There's no danger to your boat being rocked if it's been stuck fast on a sandbar since many a tide; it might actually be good. (Although they got washed onto the sandbank from the dangerous Fiorina Reefs.)

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