Hewlett-Packard appears to have given up its quest to buy all or part of data-storage company EMC.
On Wednesday, Palo Alto-based HP said it was resuming its temporarily suspended stock-repurchase program because it was no longer in possession of material non-public information, common corporate code that often references the possible purchase of another company.
In announcing last week that they will split their business into two roughly equal units, HP s executives said they are considering buying other companies and there have been persistent rumors for months that EMC was a prime target. But with Tuesday s disclosure, talks of an HP-EMC marriage have now officially concluded, FBR Capital Markets analysts said in a note to their clients.
Other analysts had concluded any HP-EMC deal had fallen apart long ago and in its announcement, HP didn t mention EMC. It merely said it was resuming stock repurchases to benefit its investors.
We are committed to a disciplined approach to capital allocation and we intend to return at least 50 percent of FY14 and FY15 free cash flow to shareholders in the form of dividends and repurchases, said HP s Chief Financial Officer Cathie Lesjak in a press release.
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