Back to News
Activism

Financing Xerox's Bid for HP

|
Published: June 22nd, 2020
Can Xerox, with a market capitalization of $8.6 billion, really finance an acquisition of HP, with a $31.5 billion market cap?

Along with the media storm that has accompanied Xerox Holdings Corp.’s (XRX) pursuit on HP Inc. (HPQ), a nagging question persists.

Can Xerox, with a market capitalization of $8.6 billion, really finance an acquisition of HP, with a $31.5 billion market cap?

If Xerox pays $17 per share in cash and $5 per share in stock as reports suggest, Fitch Ratings Inc. analyst Kevin McNeil noted, the Norwalk, Conn., printer and copier company would have to raise $20 billion in debt. Leverage at Xerox’s core business would rise to between 3.4 times Ebitda and 4.2 times Ebitda, from 1.8 times.

“This is a pretty big incremental ask,” McNeil said regarding the size of a potential potential offering. “It would be one of the larger technology deals to get done. In the tech landscape this is maybe a more challenged sub-segment, so it will be interesting to see whether or not the market has the appetite for this.”

There are other examples of a little fish, relatively speaking, eating the big. Michael Dell and Silver Lake Management took Dell Inc. private in a nearly $25 billion buyout in 2013, and swallowed much larger EMC Corp. for $67 billion in 2016.

HP is small by comparison, but could still test the debt markets.

“It might be challenging if the debt doesn’t get an investment grade rating because, obviously, the high-yield market absorbing 20 billion, that’s quite a bit,” said Tuan Duong of S&P Global Inc.

Editor’s note: The original version of this article, including advisers and other details, was earlier published on The Deal’s premium subscription website. For access, log in to TheDeal.com or use the form below to request a free trial.

This Content is Only for The Deal Subscribers

The Deal provides actionable, intraday coverage of mergers, acquisitions and all other changes in corporate control to institutional investors, private equity, hedge funds and the firms that serve them.

If you’re already a subscriber, log in to view this article here.

More From Activism

Activism

Activist Investing Today: Skadden's Breheny on Expected SEC Shifts

By Ronald Orol
|
Published: June 13th, 2025
Brian Breheny, the former chief of the SEC's M&A division, discusses expected changes to regulations affecting activist investors, including why he thinks the nation's securities regulator can eliminate activist shareholder proposals.
Activism

Activist Investing Today: Eldar on Anti-Activist Pill Evolution

By Ronald Orol
|
Published: May 23rd, 2025
When corporations install anti-activist poison pills they're less likely to implement new share buybacks and their operationally focused capital expenditures tend to be higher, UC Berkeley School of Law professor Ofer Eldar explains.