NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) May 2, 2002--Standard&Poor's today said that it affirmed its 'A-2' commercial paper and single-'A'-minus corporate credit ratings on Palo Alto, Calif.-based Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP) and and removed them from CreditWatch, where they were placed Sept. 4, 2001. The outlook is negative. The affirmation reflects Standard&Poor's expectation that the acquisition of Compaq Computer Corp. will be closed by May 7, 2002. At the same time, Standard&Poor's raised its corporate credit rating on Houston, Texas-based Compaq to single-'A'-minus from triple-'B', and removed it from CreditWatch, where it was placed Sept. 4, 2001. The outlook on Compaq is negative. Hewlett-Packard Co. is a leading, global vendor of computing and imaging solutions and
