NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) Nov. 13, 2009--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that its ratings on Palo Alto, Calif.-based Hewlett Packard Co. (HP; A/Stable/A-1) are not affected by the company's announcement that it will acquire 3Com Corp. (not rated) for approximately $2.7 billion in cash. In our view, the transaction marginally enhances the company's competitive position in the networking equipment market. While the deal improves HP's market share and the inclusion of the 3Com portfolio is complementary to HP's offerings, 3Com's strength is largely confined to the China market. HP, when combined with 3Com, will remain a distant competitor to Cisco Corp. in global enterprise networking. Still, HP's liquidity of over $13 billion and low leverage provide ample
