All in the Family: Hewlett-Packard Deal on Life Support

Editor's Note: Jim Seymour's column runs exclusively on RealMoney.com; this is a special free look at his column. For a free trial subscription to RealMoney.com, click here. This article was published Nov. 12 on RealMoney.

Things are getting pretty rattly in the proposed merger of Hewlett-Packard (HWP Quote) and Compaq (CPQ Quote). I'm not saying the wheels are falling off yet ... but increasingly it feels as if that's the next stage. This week may see the decisive moves.

You've no doubt seen or heard stories about the unhappiness with the deal among Bill Hewlett's and Dave Packard's heirs. At the end of last week, Walter Hewlett, Bill Hewlett's son and the most outspoken family member on the deal, announced that he had hired a proxy-solicitation firm to help him lead a fight against shareholder approval of the deal. (The merger must be approved by shareholders of both companies.) He's also said he'll be voting the Hewlett family's 5% or so of Hewlett-Packard's shares against the deal. (Those shares are held personally and by a family-controlled trust and foundation.)

Hewlett's actions are ominous for the deal, but not decisive. His position as a member of Hewlett-Packard's board of directors gives him some visibility and authority here -- and no doubt drives Hewlett-Packard's CEO Carly Fiorina crazy. The last thing she needs now, I'm sure she figures, is a son-of-a-founder board member publicly fighting the deal. ...