Compaq shareholders back Hewlett-Packard merger

Compaq says its shareholders have endorsed the company's plan to merge with Hewlett-Packard by a nine to one margin.

The endorsement had been widely anticipated by Wall Street.

Compaq's chairman and chief executive Michael Capellas welcomes the outcome.

He says: "I am gratified that Compaq shareholders have seen the power behind the merger of these two great technology companies and given the board of directors and management their resounding support."

Mr Capellas adds: "While official certification of the results of HP's shareholder vote is still in process, we stand ready to deliver the superior value that our customers, employees and shareholders expect."

Hewlett-Packard shareholders voted on the deal a day earlier than their Compaq counterparts, but the official result of HP's closely contested ballot will not be known for a few weeks.

HP chief executive officer Carly Fiorina said preliminary results showed shareholders had backed the deal by a "slim but sufficient" margin.

But dissident HP board member Walter Hewlett, the chief campaigner against the merger, claimed the result