May 13, 2008 8:45AM

H-P and EDS to Hold Call To Sell Deal to Wall Street

By Donna Fuscaldo

In its biggest deal since acquiring Compaq, Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) announced it’s buying Electronic Data Systems (EDS) for $13.9 billion, marking a more than 30% premium from EDS’ stock closing price Monday. Reports have been swirling that H-P was close to inking a deal for EDS. The move is designed to bolster H-P’s computer services business, making it second only to IBM, the powerhouse of IT services. Speculation has abounded for years that H-P would make a services buy, with Computer Sciences Corp. (CSC) once mentioned as a possible target. Integrating the company will be a challenge for H-P CEO Mark Hurd. Still Hurd, known as an operations guy, has won accolades from investors ever since he took over the reigns from ousted former CEO Carly Fiorina. H-P’s Hurd, along with EDS CEO Ronald Rittenmeyer will sell the deal to Wall Street during a conference call happening at 9:00 a.m. Stay tuned  for comments from the executives.