Hewlett-Packard has announced the completion of its acquisition of Electronic Data Systems: the $13.9 billion deal should help HP better compete against IBM. This is the largest transaction in the history of IT services, the second largest in the technology industry after HP’s acquisition of Compaq, which closed in May 2002. The merger of the two multinationals will create a group with 310,000 employees and revenues of approximately $130 billion. For comparison, IBM has 386,000 employees and revenues of $98.8 billion.
