XRX Xerox Holdings Corporation

By Dave Sebastian 

Xerox Holdings Corp. has raised its offer to buy HP Inc. to $24 a share and said it would launch a public takeover bid in early March.

The price comprises $18.40 in cash and 0.149 Xerox share for each HP share, Xerox said Monday. The offer won't be tied to financing or due-diligence conditions, it added. Xerox offered HP $22 a share in November.

In premarket trading Monday, HP shares rose 5.2%, and Xerox shares declined 1.5%.

The company said it has met with some of HP's largest stockholders before increasing the bid. It said it expects to launch its campaign to buy shares directly from investors on about March 2.

"The tender offer announced today will enable these stockholders to accept Xerox's compelling offer despite HP's consistent refusal to pursue the opportunity," Xerox said.

The offer represents a 41% premium to HP's 30-day volume weighted average price of $17 a share. HP shares closed at $21.73 on Friday, valuing the offer at a 10.4% premium.

HP had rejected Xerox's $22-a-share bid as too low and questioned Xerox's ability to finance it. HP again deemed the offer too low when Xerox in January said it had secured up to $24 billion debt financing.

HP didn't respond to a request for comment.

Xerox has said it plans to nominate 11 independent candidates to replace HP's board at the computer and printer maker's annual shareholder meeting this summer. [[https://www.wsj.com/articles/xerox-to-nominate-11-candidates-to-replace-hps-board-11579792536]]

The companies dominate different areas of the printer market and have both been cutting costs as the need for printed documents declines. Xerox primarily makes large printers and copy machines, while HP mainly sells smaller printers and printing supplies. HP is also one of the biggest PC makers in the world, though its printer business is more lucrative.

Write to Dave Sebastian at dave.sebastian@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 10, 2020 09:05 ET (14:05 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.