Hewlett versus Fiorina: The verdict (well nearly)

NEWS Walter Hewlett, the outspoken director of HP, will find out later this week whether his legal attempt to derail the proposed £22bn HP-Compaq merger has been successful after a US judge ended a hearing yesterday still to make a decision. Judge William Chandler told the court in Delaware - after a two and a half hour ruling - that a decision would be made in the coming days. Hewlett issued a legal challenge following the merger vote last month. Although the official result of the vote is still to be revealed, HP boss Carly Fiorina believes she has a mandate to complete the merger. However, Hewlett insists HP used "improper means" to obtain votes from Deutsche Asset Management.