Hewlett-Packard (HPQ)

Any failure by us to manage acquisitions, divestitures and other significant transactions successfully could harm our financial results, business and prospects.

        As part of our business strategy, we frequently engage in discussions with third-parties regarding possible investments, acquisitions, strategic alliances, joint ventures, divestitures and outsourcing transactions ("extraordinary transactions") and enter into agreements relating to such extraordinary transactions in order to further our business objectives. In order to pursue this strategy successfully, we must identify suitable candidates for and successfully complete extraordinary transactions, some of which may be large and complex, and manage post-closing issues such as the integration of acquired companies or employees. Integration and other risks of extraordinary transactions can be more pronounced for larger and more complicated transactions, or if multiple transactions are pursued simultaneously. If we fail to identify and complete successfully extraordinary transactions that further our strategic objectives, we may be required to expend resources to develop products and technology internally, we may be at a competitive disadvantage or we may be adversely affected by negative market perceptions, any of which may have a material adverse effect on our revenue, gross margin and profitability.

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        Integration issues are complex, time-consuming and expensive and, without proper planning and implementation, could significantly disrupt our business. The challenges involved in integration include:

•

combining product offerings and entering into new markets in which we are not experienced;



•

convincing customers and distributors that the transaction will not diminish client service standards or business focus, preventing customers and distributors from deferring purchasing decisions or switching to other suppliers (which could result in our incurring additional obligations in order to address customer uncertainty), and coordinating sales, marketing and distribution efforts;



•

consolidating and rationalizing corporate IT infrastructure, which may include multiple legacy systems from various acquisitions and integrating software code;



•

minimizing the diversion of management attention from ongoing business concerns;



•

persuading employees that business cultures are compatible, maintaining employee morale and retaining key employees, integrating employees into HP, correctly estimating employee benefit costs and implementing restructuring programs;



•

coordinating and combining administrative, manufacturing, research and development and other operations, subsidiaries, facilities and relationships with third-parties in accordance with local laws and other obligations while maintaining adequate standards, controls and procedures;



•

achieving savings from supply chain integration; and



•

managing integration issues shortly after or pending the completion of other independent transactions.

        We evaluate and enter into significant extraordinary transactions on an ongoing basis. We may not fully realize all of the anticipated benefits of any transaction, and the timeframe for achieving benefits of a transaction may depend partially upon the actions of employees, suppliers or other third-parties. In addition, the pricing and other terms of our contracts for extraordinary transactions require us to make estimates and assumptions at the time we enter into these contracts, and, during the course of our due diligence, we may not identify all of the factors necessary to estimate our costs accurately. Any increased or unexpected costs, unanticipated delays or failure to achieve contractual obligations could make these agreements less profitable or unprofitable.

        Managing extraordinary transactions requires varying levels of management resources, which may divert our attention from other business operations. These extraordinary transactions also have resulted and in the future may result in significant costs and expenses and charges to earnings, including those related to severance pay, early retirement costs, employee benefit costs, asset impairment charges, charges from the elimination of duplicative facilities and contracts, in-process research and development charges, inventory adjustments, assumed litigation and other liabilities, legal, accounting and financial advisory fees, and required payments to executive officers and key employees under retention plans. Moreover, HP has incurred and will incur additional depreciation and amortization expense over the useful lives of certain assets acquired in connection with extraordinary transactions, and, to the extent that the value of goodwill or intangible assets with indefinite lives acquired in connection with an extraordinary transaction becomes impaired, we may be required to incur additional material charges relating to the impairment of those assets. In order to complete an acquisition, we may issue common stock, potentially creating dilution for existing stockholders, or borrow, affecting our financial condition and potentially our credit ratings. Any prior or future downgrades in our credit rating associated with an acquisition could adversely affect our ability to borrow and result in more restrictive borrowing terms. In addition, HP's effective tax rate on an ongoing basis is uncertain, and extraordinary transactions could impact our effective tax rate. We also may experience risks relating to the challenges and costs of closing an extraordinary transaction and the risk that an announced

71

extraordinary transaction may not close. As a result, any completed, pending or future transactions may contribute to financial results that differ from the investment community's expectations in a given quarter.

Any failure by us to manage acquisitions, divestitures and other significant transactions successfully could harm our financial results, business and prospects.

        As part of our business strategy, we frequently engage in discussions with third parties regarding possible investments, acquisitions, strategic alliances, joint ventures, divestitures and outsourcing

64

transactions ("extraordinary transactions") and enter into agreements relating to such extraordinary transactions in order to further our business objectives. In order to pursue this strategy successfully, we must identify suitable candidates for and successfully complete extraordinary transactions, some of which may be large and complex, and manage post-closing issues such as the integration of acquired companies or employees. Integration and other risks of extraordinary transactions can be more pronounced for larger and more complicated transactions, or if multiple transactions are pursued simultaneously. If we fail to identify and complete successfully extraordinary transactions that further our strategic objectives, we may be required to expend resources to develop products and technology internally, we may be at a competitive disadvantage or we may be adversely affected by negative market perceptions, any of which may have a material adverse effect on our revenue, gross margin and profitability.

        Integration issues are complex, time-consuming and expensive and, without proper planning and implementation, could significantly disrupt our business. The challenges involved in integration include:

•

combining product offerings and entering into new markets in which we are not experienced;



•

convincing customers and distributors that the transaction will not diminish client service standards or business focus, preventing customers and distributors from deferring purchasing decisions or switching to other suppliers (which could result in our incurring additional obligations in order to address customer uncertainty), and coordinating sales, marketing and distribution efforts;



•

consolidating and rationalizing corporate IT infrastructure, which may include multiple legacy systems from various acquisitions and integrating software code;



•

minimizing the diversion of management attention from ongoing business concerns;



•

persuading employees that business cultures are compatible, maintaining employee morale and retaining key employees, integrating employees into HP, correctly estimating employee benefit costs and implementing restructuring programs;



•

coordinating and combining administrative, manufacturing, research and development and other operations, subsidiaries, facilities and relationships with third parties in accordance with local laws and other obligations while maintaining adequate standards, controls and procedures;



•

achieving savings from supply chain integration; and



•

managing integration issues shortly after or pending the completion of other independent transactions.

        We evaluate and enter into significant extraordinary transactions on an ongoing basis. We may not fully realize all of the anticipated benefits of any transaction, and the timeframe for achieving benefits of a transaction may depend partially upon the actions of employees, suppliers or other third parties. In addition, the pricing and other terms of our contracts for extraordinary transactions require us to make estimates and assumptions at the time we enter into these contracts, and, during the course of our due diligence, we may not identify all of the factors necessary to estimate our costs accurately. Any increased or unexpected costs, unanticipated delays or failure to achieve contractual obligations could make these agreements less profitable or unprofitable.

        Managing extraordinary transactions requires varying levels of management resources, which may divert our attention from other business operations. These extraordinary transactions also have resulted and in the future may result in significant costs and expenses and charges to earnings, including those related to severance pay, early retirement costs, employee benefit costs, asset impairment charges, charges from the elimination of duplicative facilities and contracts, in-process research and development charges, inventory adjustments, assumed litigation and other liabilities, legal, accounting

65

and financial advisory fees, and required payments to executive officers and key employees under retention plans. Moreover, HP has incurred and will incur additional depreciation and amortization expense over the useful lives of certain assets acquired in connection with extraordinary transactions, and, to the extent that the value of goodwill or intangible assets with indefinite lives acquired in connection with an extraordinary transaction becomes impaired, we may be required to incur additional material charges relating to the impairment of those assets. In order to complete an acquisition, we may issue common stock, potentially creating dilution for existing stockholders, or borrow, affecting our financial condition and potentially our credit ratings. Any prior or future downgrades in our credit rating associated with an acquisition could adversely affect our ability to borrow and result in more restrictive borrowing terms. In addition, HP's effective tax rate on an ongoing basis is uncertain, and extraordinary transactions could impact our effective tax rate. We also may experience risks relating to the challenges and costs of closing an extraordinary transaction and the risk that an announced extraordinary transaction may not close. As a result, any completed, pending or future transactions may contribute to financial results that differ from the investment community's expectations in a given quarter.

Any failure by us to manage acquisitions, divestitures and other significant transactions successfully could harm our financial results, business and prospects.

        As part of our business strategy, we frequently engage in discussions with third parties regarding possible investments, acquisitions, strategic alliances, joint ventures, divestitures and outsourcing transactions ("extraordinary transactions") and enter into agreements relating to such extraordinary transactions in order to further our business objectives. In order to pursue this strategy successfully, we must identify suitable candidates for and successfully complete extraordinary transactions, some of which may be large and complex, and manage post-closing issues such as the integration of acquired companies or employees. Integration and other risks of extraordinary transactions can be more pronounced for larger and more complicated transactions, or if multiple transactions are pursued simultaneously. If we fail to identify and complete successfully extraordinary transactions that further our strategic objectives, we may be required to expend resources to develop products and technology internally, we may be at a competitive disadvantage or we may be adversely affected by negative market perceptions, any of which may have a material adverse effect on our revenue, gross margin and profitability.

        Integration issues are complex, time-consuming and expensive and, without proper planning and implementation, could significantly disrupt our business. The challenges involved in integration include:

•

combining product offerings and entering into new markets in which we are not experienced;



•

convincing customers and distributors that the transaction will not diminish client service standards or business focus, preventing customers and distributors from deferring purchasing decisions or switching to other suppliers (which could result in our incurring additional obligations in order to address customer uncertainty), and coordinating sales, marketing and distribution efforts;

25

•

consolidating and rationalizing corporate IT infrastructure, which may include multiple legacy systems from various acquisitions and integrating software code;



•

minimizing the diversion of management attention from ongoing business concerns;



•

persuading employees that business cultures are compatible, maintaining employee morale and retaining key employees, integrating employees into HP, correctly estimating employee benefit costs and implementing restructuring programs;



•

coordinating and combining administrative, manufacturing, research and development and other operations, subsidiaries, facilities and relationships with third parties in accordance with local laws and other obligations while maintaining adequate standards, controls and procedures;



•

achieving savings from supply chain integration; and



•

managing integration issues shortly after or pending the completion of other independent transactions.

        We evaluate and enter into significant extraordinary transactions on an ongoing basis. We may not fully realize all of the anticipated benefits of any transaction, and the timeframe for achieving benefits of a transaction may depend partially upon the actions of employees, suppliers or other third parties. In addition, the pricing and other terms of our contracts for extraordinary transactions require us to make estimates and assumptions at the time we enter into these contracts, and, during the course of our due diligence, we may not identify all of the factors necessary to estimate our costs accurately. Any increased or unexpected costs, unanticipated delays or failure to achieve contractual obligations could make these agreements less profitable or unprofitable.

        Managing extraordinary transactions requires varying levels of management resources, which may divert our attention from other business operations. These extraordinary transactions also have resulted and in the future may result in significant costs and expenses and charges to earnings, including those related to severance pay, early retirement costs, employee benefit costs, asset impairment charges, charges from the elimination of duplicative facilities and contracts, in-process research and development charges, inventory adjustments, assumed litigation and other liabilities, legal, accounting and financial advisory fees, and required payments to executive officers and key employees under retention plans. Moreover, HP has incurred and will incur additional depreciation and amortization expense over the useful lives of certain assets acquired in connection with extraordinary transactions, and, to the extent that the value of goodwill or intangible assets with indefinite lives acquired in connection with an extraordinary transaction becomes impaired, we may be required to incur additional material charges relating to the impairment of those assets. In order to complete an acquisition, we may issue common stock, potentially creating dilution for existing stockholders, or borrow, affecting our financial condition and potentially our credit ratings. Any prior or future downgrades in our credit rating associated with an acquisition could adversely affect our ability to borrow and result in more restrictive borrowing terms. In addition, HP's effective tax rate on an ongoing basis is uncertain, and extraordinary transactions could impact our effective tax rate. We also may experience risks relating to the challenges and costs of closing an extraordinary transaction and the risk that an announced extraordinary transaction may not close. As a result, any completed, pending or future transactions may contribute to financial results that differ from the investment community's expectations in a given quarter.

Any failure by us to manage acquisitions, divestitures and other significant transactions successfully could harm our financial results, business and prospects.

        As part of our business strategy, we frequently engage in discussions with third parties regarding, and enter into agreements relating to, possible acquisitions, strategic alliances, joint ventures, divestitures and outsourcing transactions in order to further our business objectives, and in many cases, to manage our product and technology portfolios. In order to pursue this strategy successfully, we must identify suitable candidates for these transactions, complete these transactions, some of which may be large and complex, and manage post-closing issues such as the integration of acquired companies or employees. Integration and other risks of acquisitions, strategic alliances, joint ventures and outsourcing transactions can be more pronounced for larger and more complicated transactions, or if multiple transactions are pursued simultaneously. However, if we fail to identify and complete successfully transactions that further our strategic objectives, we may be required to expend resources to develop products and technology internally, we may be at a competitive disadvantage or we may be adversely affected by negative market perceptions, any of which may have a material adverse effect on our revenue and selling, general and administrative expenses. Integration issues are complex, time-consuming and expensive and, without proper planning and implementation, could significantly disrupt our business. The challenges involved in integration include:

•

combining product offerings and entering into new markets in which we are not experienced;

72

•

convincing customers and distributors that the transaction will not diminish client service standards or business focus, preventing customers and distributors from deferring purchasing decisions or switching to other suppliers (which could result in our incurring additional obligations in order to address customer uncertainty), and coordinating sales, marketing and distribution efforts;



•

consolidating and rationalizing corporate IT infrastructure, which may include multiple legacy systems from various acquisitions and integrating software code;



•

minimizing the diversion of management attention from ongoing business concerns;



•

persuading employees that business cultures are compatible, maintaining employee morale and retaining key employees, integrating employees into HP, correctly estimating employee benefit costs and implementing restructuring programs;



•

coordinating and combining administrative, manufacturing, research and development and other operations, subsidiaries, facilities and relationships with third parties in accordance with local laws and other obligations while maintaining adequate standards, controls and procedures;



•

achieving savings from supply chain integration; and



•

managing integration issues shortly after or pending the completion of other independent transactions.

        We evaluate and enter into significant transactions, including acquisitions, strategic alliances, joint ventures, divestitures and outsourcing agreements, on an ongoing basis. We may not fully realize all of the anticipated benefits of any transaction, and the timeframe for achieving benefits of a transaction may depend partially upon the actions of employees, suppliers or other third parties. In addition, the pricing and other terms of our contracts for significant transactions require us to make estimates and assumptions at the time we enter into these contracts, and, during the course of our due diligence, we may not identify all of the factors necessary to estimate our costs accurately. Any increased or unexpected costs, unanticipated delays or failure to achieve contractual obligations could make these agreements less profitable or unprofitable.

        Managing acquisitions, outsourcing transactions, strategic alliances, joint ventures, and divestitures requires varying levels of management resources, which may divert our attention from other business operations. These transactions also have resulted and in the future may result in significant costs and expenses and charges to earnings, including those related to severance pay, early retirement costs, employee benefit costs, asset impairment charges, charges from the elimination of duplicative facilities and contracts, in-process research and development charges, inventory adjustments, assumed litigation and other liabilities, legal, accounting and financial advisory fees, and required payments to executive officers and key employees under retention plans. Moreover, HP has incurred and will incur additional depreciation and amortization expense over the useful lives of certain assets acquired in connection with transactions, and, to the extent that the value of goodwill or intangible assets with indefinite lives acquired in connection with a transaction becomes impaired, we may be required to incur additional material charges relating to the impairment of those assets. In order to complete an acquisition, we may issue common stock, potentially creating dilution for existing stockholders, or borrow, affecting our financial condition and potentially our credit ratings. Any prior or future downgrades in our credit rating associated with an acquisition could adversely affect our ability to borrow and result in more restrictive borrowing terms. In addition, HP's effective tax rate on an ongoing basis is uncertain and extraordinary transactions could impact our effective tax rate. In addition, we may also experience risks relating to the challenges and costs of closing a transaction, and the risk that an announced transaction may not close. As a result, any completed, pending or future transactions may contribute to financial results that differ from the investment community's expectations in a given quarter.

73

Any failure by us to manage acquisitions, divestitures and other significant transactions successfully could harm our financial results, business and prospects.

        As part of our business strategy, we frequently engage in discussions with third parties regarding, and enter into agreements relating to, possible acquisitions, strategic alliances, joint ventures, divestitures and outsourcing transactions in order to further our business objectives, and in many cases, to manage our product and technology portfolios. In order to pursue this strategy successfully, we must identify suitable candidates for these transactions, complete these transactions, some of which may be large and complex, and manage post-closing issues such as the integration of acquired companies or employees. Integration and other risks of acquisitions, strategic alliances, joint ventures and outsourcing transactions can be more pronounced for larger and more complicated transactions, or if multiple transactions are pursued simultaneously. However, if we fail to identify and complete successfully transactions that further our strategic objectives, we may be required to expend resources to develop products and technology internally, we may be at a competitive disadvantage or we may be adversely affected by negative market perceptions, any of which may have a material adverse effect on our revenue and selling, general and administrative expenses. Integration issues are complex,

69

time-consuming and expensive and, without proper planning and implementation, could significantly disrupt our business. The challenges involved in integration include:

•

combining product offerings and entering into new markets in which we are not experienced;



•

convincing customers and distributors that the transaction will not diminish client service standards or business focus, preventing customers and distributors from deferring purchasing decisions or switching to other suppliers (which could result in our incurring additional obligations in order to address customer uncertainty), and coordinating sales, marketing and distribution efforts;



•

consolidating and rationalizing corporate IT infrastructure, which may include multiple legacy systems from various acquisitions and integrating software code;



•

minimizing the diversion of management attention from ongoing business concerns;



•

persuading employees that business cultures are compatible, maintaining employee morale and retaining key employees, integrating employees into HP, correctly estimating employee benefit costs and implementing restructuring programs;



•

coordinating and combining administrative, manufacturing, research and development and other operations, subsidiaries, facilities and relationships with third parties in accordance with local laws and other obligations while maintaining adequate standards, controls and procedures;



•

achieving savings from supply chain integration; and



•

managing integration issues shortly after or pending the completion of other independent transactions.

        We evaluate and enter into significant transactions, including acquisitions, strategic alliances, joint ventures, divestitures and outsourcing agreements, on an ongoing basis. We may not fully realize all of the anticipated benefits of any transaction, and the timeframe for achieving benefits of a transaction may depend partially upon the actions of employees, suppliers or other third parties. In addition, the pricing and other terms of our contracts for significant transactions require us to make estimates and assumptions at the time we enter into these contracts, and, during the course of our due diligence, we may not identify all of the factors necessary to estimate our costs accurately. Any increased or unexpected costs, unanticipated delays or failure to achieve contractual obligations could make these agreements less profitable or unprofitable.

        Managing acquisitions, outsourcing transactions, strategic alliances, joint ventures, and divestitures requires varying levels of management resources, which may divert our attention from other business operations. These transactions also have resulted and in the future may result in significant costs and expenses and charges to earnings, including those related to severance pay, early retirement costs, employee benefit costs, asset impairment charges, charges from the elimination of duplicative facilities and contracts, in-process research and development charges, inventory adjustments, legal, accounting and financial advisory fees, and required payments to executive officers and key employees under retention plans. Moreover, HP has incurred and will incur additional depreciation and amortization expense over the useful lives of certain assets acquired in connection with transactions, and, to the extent that the value of goodwill or intangible assets with indefinite lives acquired in connection with a transaction becomes impaired, we may be required to incur additional material charges relating to the impairment of those assets. In order to complete an acquisition, we may issue common stock, potentially creating dilution for existing stockholders, or borrow, affecting our financial condition and potentially our credit ratings. Any prior or future downgrades in our credit rating associated with an acquisition could adversely affect our ability to borrow and result in more restrictive borrowing terms. In addition, HP's effective tax rate on an ongoing basis is uncertain and extraordinary transactions could impact our effective tax rate. As a result, any completed, pending or future transactions may

70

contribute to financial results that differ from the investment community's expectations in a given quarter.

Any failure by us to manage acquisitions, divestitures and other significant transactions successfully could harm our financial results, business and prospects.

        As part of our business strategy, we frequently engage in discussions with third parties regarding, and enter into agreements relating to, possible acquisitions, strategic alliances, joint ventures, divestitures and outsourcing transactions in order to further our business objectives, and in many cases, to manage our product and technology portfolios. In order to pursue this strategy successfully, we must identify suitable candidates for these transactions, complete these transactions, some of which may be large and complex, and manage post-closing issues such as the integration of acquired companies or employees. Integration and other risks of acquisitions, strategic alliances, joint ventures and outsourcing transactions can be more pronounced for larger and more complicated transactions, or if multiple transactions are pursued simultaneously. However, if we fail to identify and complete successfully transactions that further our strategic objectives, we may be required to expend resources to develop products and technology internally, we may be at a competitive disadvantage or we may be adversely affected by negative market perceptions, any of which may have a material adverse effect on our revenue and selling, general and administrative expenses. Integration issues are complex, time-consuming and expensive and, without proper planning and implementation, could significantly disrupt our business. The challenges involved in integration include:

•

combining product offerings and entering into new markets in which we are not experienced;



•

convincing customers and distributors that the transaction will not diminish client service standards or business focus, preventing customers and distributors from deferring purchasing decisions or switching to other suppliers (which could result in our incurring additional obligations in order to address customer uncertainty), and coordinating sales, marketing and distribution efforts;



•

consolidating and rationalizing corporate IT infrastructure, which may include multiple legacy systems from various acquisitions and integrating software code;

61

•

minimizing the diversion of management attention from ongoing business concerns;



•

persuading employees that business cultures are compatible, maintaining employee morale and retaining key employees, integrating employees into HP, correctly estimating employee benefit costs and implementing restructuring programs;



•

coordinating and combining administrative, manufacturing, research and development and other operations, subsidiaries, facilities and relationships with third parties in accordance with local laws and other obligations while maintaining adequate standards, controls and procedures;



•

achieving savings from supply chain integration; and



•

managing integration issues shortly after or pending the completion of other independent transactions.

        We evaluate and enter into significant transactions, including acquisitions, strategic alliances, joint ventures, divestitures and outsourcing agreements, on an ongoing basis. We may not fully realize all of the anticipated benefits of any transaction to the extent anticipated, and the timeframe for achieving benefits of a transaction may depend partially upon the actions of employees, suppliers or other third parties. In addition, the pricing and other terms of our contracts for significant transactions require us to make estimates and assumptions at the time we enter into these contracts, and, during the course of our due diligence, we may not identify all of the factors necessary to estimate our costs accurately. Any increased or unexpected costs, unanticipated delays or failure to achieve contractual obligations could make these agreements less profitable or unprofitable.

        Managing acquisitions, outsourcing transactions, strategic alliances, joint ventures, and divestitures requires varying levels of management resources, which may divert our attention from other business operations. These transactions also have resulted and in the future may result in significant costs and expenses and charges to earnings, including those related to severance pay, early retirement costs, employee benefit costs, asset impairment charges, charges from the elimination of duplicative facilities and contracts, in-process research and development charges, inventory adjustments, legal, accounting and financial advisory fees, and required payments to executive officers and key employees under retention plans. Moreover, HP has incurred and will incur additional depreciation and amortization expense over the useful lives of certain assets acquired in connection with transactions, and, to the extent that the value of goodwill or intangible assets with indefinite lives acquired in connection with a transaction becomes impaired, we may be required to incur additional material charges relating to the impairment of those assets. In order to complete an acquisition, we may issue common stock, potentially creating dilution for existing stockholders, or borrow, affecting our financial condition and potentially our credit ratings. Any prior or future downgrades in our credit rating associated with an acquisition could adversely affect our ability to borrow and result in more restrictive borrowing terms. In addition, HP's effective tax rate on an ongoing basis is uncertain and extraordinary transactions could impact our effective tax rate. As a result, any completed, pending or future transactions may contribute to financial results that differ from the investment community's expectations in a given quarter.

Any failure by us to manage acquisitions, divestitures and other significant transactions successfully could harm our financial results, business and prospects.

        As part of our business strategy, we frequently engage in discussions with third parties regarding, and enter into agreements relating to, possible acquisitions, strategic alliances, joint ventures, divestitures and outsourcing transactions in order to further our business objectives, and in many cases, to manage our product and technology portfolios. In order to pursue this strategy successfully, we must identify suitable candidates for these transactions, complete these transactions, some of which may be large and complex, and manage post-closing issues such as the integration of acquired companies or employees. Integration and other risks of acquisitions, strategic alliances, joint ventures and outsourcing transactions can be more pronounced for larger and more complicated transactions, or if multiple transactions are pursued simultaneously. However, if we fail to identify and complete successfully transactions that further our strategic objectives, we may be required to expend resources to develop products and technology internally, we may be at a competitive disadvantage or we may be adversely affected by negative market perceptions, any of which may have a material adverse effect on our revenue and selling, general and administrative expenses. Integration issues are complex, time-consuming and expensive and, without proper planning and implementation, could significantly disrupt our business. The challenges involved in integration include:

•

combining product offerings and entering into new markets in which we are not experienced;



•

convincing customers and distributors that the transaction will not diminish client service standards or business focus, preventing customers and distributors from deferring purchasing decisions or switching to other suppliers (which could result in our incurring additional obligations in order to address customer uncertainty), and coordinating sales, marketing and distribution efforts;



•

consolidating and rationalizing corporate IT infrastructure, which may include multiple legacy systems from various acquisitions and integrating software code;



•

minimizing the diversion of management attention from ongoing business concerns;



•

persuading employees that business cultures are compatible, maintaining employee morale and retaining key employees, integrating employees into HP, correctly estimating employee benefit costs and implementing restructuring programs;



•

coordinating and combining administrative, manufacturing, research and development and other operations, subsidiaries, facilities and relationships with third parties in accordance with local laws and other obligations while maintaining adequate standards, controls and procedures;



•

achieving savings from supply chain integration; and



•

managing integration issues shortly after or pending the completion of other independent transactions.

77

        We evaluate and enter into significant transactions, including acquisitions, strategic alliances, joint ventures, divestitures and outsourcing agreements, on an ongoing basis. We may not fully realize all of the anticipated benefits of any transaction to the extent anticipated, and the timeframe for achieving benefits of a transaction may depend partially upon the actions of employees, suppliers or other third parties. In addition, the pricing and other terms of our contracts for significant transactions require us to make estimates and assumptions at the time we enter into these contracts, and, during the course of our due diligence, we may not identify all of the factors necessary to estimate our costs accurately. Any increased or unexpected costs, unanticipated delays or failure to achieve contractual obligations could make these agreements less profitable or unprofitable.

        Managing acquisitions, outsourcing transactions, strategic alliances, joint ventures, and divestitures requires varying levels of management resources, which may divert our attention from other business operations. These transactions also have resulted and in the future may result in significant costs and expenses and charges to earnings, including those related to severance pay, early retirement costs, employee benefit costs, asset impairment charges, charges from the elimination of duplicative facilities and contracts, IPR&D charges, inventory adjustments, legal, accounting and financial advisory fees, and required payments to executive officers and key employees under retention plans. Moreover, HP has incurred and will incur additional depreciation and amortization expense over the useful lives of certain assets acquired in connection with transactions, and, to the extent that the value of goodwill or intangible assets with indefinite lives acquired in connection with a transaction becomes impaired, we may be required to incur additional material charges relating to the impairment of those assets. In order to complete an acquisition, we may issue common stock, potentially creating dilution for existing stockholders, or borrow, affecting our financial condition and potentially our credit ratings. Any prior or future downgrades in our credit rating associated with an acquisition could adversely affect our ability to borrow and result in more restrictive borrowing terms. In addition, HP's effective tax rate on an ongoing basis is uncertain and extraordinary transactions could impact our effective tax rate. As a result, any completed, pending or future transactions may contribute to financial results that differ from the investment community's expectations in a given quarter.