Hewlett-Packard’s
buyout of VeriFone
complete

The Hawaii-born company
was sold for $12.9 billion

From staff and wire reports

Hewlett-Packard Co. has completed its $1.29 billion acquisition of VeriFone Inc., a high-tech company that was founded in Hawaii in 1981.

The acquisition, announced in April, is part of a push by Hewlett-Packard into electronic commerce. Palo Alto, Calif.-based H-P already sells computers to financial businesses including BankAmerica Corp. and Citicorp.

VeriFone, which moved its headquarters to Redwood City, Calif. in 1986, designs and manufactures electronic equipment that reads the magnetic strips on credit cards for merchants.

The company has also made in-roads in developing software that enables commerce over the Internet, making it an attractive purchase for H-P. The market for electronic commerce was $1.1 billion last year, though it's expected to jump to $73 billion by 2000, according to Forrester Research.

In New York Stock Exchange trading today, H-P shares fell 68 cents to close at $54. VeriFone shares closed at $30.12-1/2 on April 23, the day before the companies announced the acquisition. The company's shares were valued at $54.37-1/2 yesterday.

Hewlett-Packard, a component of the Dow Jones industrial average, said it issued one share for each VeriFone common share, resulting in 23.6 million new H-P shares issued. The computer manufacturer said it also assumed outstanding VeriFone employee stock options.

VeriFone maintains a research and development facility at Mililani Technology Center, with about 80 employees, and an equipment-testing center at Laupahoehoe on the Big Island, with 12 employees.

H-P said VeriFone will operate as an independent subsidiary and keep its current management, including Hatim A. Tyabji, who will remain president and CEO.

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Bloomberg News contributed to this report.