Big News: Palm Finds a Buyer in HP
It happened a lot faster than maybe many of us thought but Palm has found a buyer in unexpected quarters: HP. At least, I’m surprised, because who’s really thinking HP would be a Palm suitor? Speculation fell to Lenovo, HTC, Dell, and even RIM. But HP could be exactly what Palm needs.
The purchase price, in cash, is based on $5.70, which is an approximately 23% premium on the common stock share price of $4.64, listed at end of day Wed, Apr 28, 2010. Total purchase price is ~US$1.2B. Both companies boards of directors have approved the sale. Palm CEO Jon Rubenstein is expected to stay on. Elevation Partners (who have rock star Bono of U2 as an investor) is said to have taken a hit on the sale, which should close by Jul 31, 2010 — HP’s fiscal Q3 end.
The official statement from HP does not say if the Palm brand name will be retained, but it appears that at least webOS is something they want. In fact, MobileBeat suggested something that I was also speculating on: webOS for a tablet computing device. That’s definitely something I would buy, as I love webOS’ multitasking and card system. Speculation by Wired Gadget Lab is that webOS devices might gain enterprise use. While I initially thought that, would companies choose webOS over MS Windows devices, which HP currently has for their tablet computers? Regardless, HP is bound to benefit if they can leverage the 1,500+ patents owned by Palm.
If you own a Palm webOS phone, however, you might have to talk to your carrier as HP is likely to have to renegotiate plans in that regard. I’m crossing my fingers that my Mobile Hotspot option through Verizon isn’t taken away, as that’s what’s powering my Apple iPad WiFi device when I’m on the go.