Xerox boosted its offer to acquire HP Inc. to $24 a share, or about $34 billion, the company announced Monday.
The new offer would be for $18.40 per share in cash and 0.149 Xerox share per share of HP. Shares of HP climbed as much as 1.2% in afternoon trading on the news. Xerox's stock was up 1.2%.
In November, Xerox offered HP $22 per share in its takeover bid for the company. HP's board of directors unanimously rejected the proposal, arguing the offer undervalued HP and wasn't in the best interest of shareholders. In response, Xerox CEO John Visentin told HP's directors that if they didn't reconsider his acquisition bid, he would approach HP's shareholders directly.
Xerox said Monday's announcement that it has met with HP's shareholders several times to discuss the potential "synergies" that could come from a deal. Xerox said the sweetened bid would enable HP's shareholders to "accept Xerox's compelling offer despite HP's consistent refusal to pursue the opportunity."
"The value created by the synergies realized in a combination of Xerox and HP is incremental to any value that HP can create by revising its strategic plan or dramatically changing its capital allocation policy to incorporate additional share repurchases," Xerox said in the release. "Xerox's offer provides HP stockholders with both significant, immediate cash value, and meaningful upside via equity ownership in the combined company."
Representatives from HP weren't immediately available for comment.