HP Offers $300 Million Cash For Synstar

HP said the deal represented a 28 percent premium to Synstar's price of $1.44 or 78.25 pence at the close of trading on the London Stock Exchange Friday. Synstar's shares have jumped 27 percent, or 21 pence, to 99.25 pence ($1.83) in morning trading on news of the offer.

HP is looking to expand its United Kingdom-based services division with the acquisition of Synstar, which recently reorganized to focus mostly on managed services, HP said. Synstar provides technology consulting services to about 1,500 customers in Europe, and reported a pre-tax profit of $16 million or 8.7 million pounds on sales of $410.3 million or 223 million pounds in 2003.

Merrill Lynch will make the offer on behalf of HP Global Investments BV, a subsidiary of HP. The U.S. computer giant posted sales of $73.06 billion in 2003.

Shares of HP closed at $19.90 after trading on the New York Stock Exchange Friday.

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