CAN COMPAQ SURVIVE AS A SOLO ACT?

摘要

For three months, Compaq Computer Corp. CEO Michael D. Capellas has been so gung ho about the $23 billion Hewlett-Packard Co. deal that he has been telling his top lieutenants there's no need for a fallback scheme. "Plan B is see Plan A," Capellas has said.rnNow, it's time for a real Plan B. With opposition to the deal coming from members of the HP founders' families, Compaq is preparing for the bleak prospect of going it alone in an industry that has been ravaged by price wars, slowing growth, and consolidation. In a Dec. 7 memo, Capellas told employees that Compaq's "responsibility is to maintain a pragmatic view of our business and a clear focus on the future," no matter what happens with HP. At a board meeting on Dec. 13 in Houston, Compaq's directors were to discuss how to help sell investors on the deal and hash out plans should there be no deal. "Obviously at this juncture, Compaq has a Plan B," says Thomas J. Perkins, a Compaq director.