HP to buy Compaq for $21 billion

2001 - Hewlett-Packard Co plans to buy Compaq Computer Corp in a $21 billion stock deal, the computer industry’s biggest ever merger, joining two giants in a battle against IBM and Dell over declining computer sales. Aiming to slash overhead and some 15,000 jobs, the combined firm under the HewlettPackard name promises to change technology landscape, if the deal can pass antitrust hurdles.