Carl Icahn Takes Stake in HP, Pushes for Xerox Merger

The activist investor wants a marriage between the two tech companies.
Activist investor Carl Icahn has purchased roughly $1.2 billion in HP Inc. stock. Icahn is now pushing the personal computer maker to merge with printing giant Xerox. Icahn now owns a 4.2% stake in HP. He also owns 10.6% of Xerox. An HP-Xerox merger would earn him a lot of money.
“I think a combination is a no-brainer,” Icahn told the Wall Street Journal.
Activist Investor Carl Icahn Pushes for HP-Xerox Merger
The news comes a week after Xerox offered to purchase HP for $33 billion in cash and stock. An HP-Xerox merger would produce roughly $2 billion in annual cost synergies, according to a Reuters report from last week. Icahn said in an interview that he started eyeing HP stock in February.
He started buying shares in April but said he didn’t have a merger in mind when he started that process. Icahn thinks that an HP-Xerox merger would establish a company with a “more balanced” list of printer offerings.
A Busy 2019 for Icahn and Activists
This isn’t the first merger that Icahn has pushed in 2019. In June, Icahn saw Eldorado Resorts purchase Caesars Entertainment Corp. for $17.3 billion. Icahn had board seats at Caesars.
He also recently took a shot at Occidental Petroleum after the energy giant announced plans to shutter half of its Permian production. Finally, Icahn announced earlier this year that he will relocate from the Northeast to Florida.
“My employees have always been very important to the company, so I’d like to invite you all to join me in Miami,” Icahn wrote in a May 17 letter.

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