News release

HP Agreement to Acquire Comdisco Technology Services Business Units Clears Hart-Scott-Rodino Review

PALO ALTO, Calif., Aug. 6, 2001

Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HWP) today announced that the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) regulatory waiting period relating to its definitive agreement with Comdisco, Inc. to acquire substantially all of Comdisco's Availability Solutions business has expired.

On July 16, HP announced it had signed a definitive agreement to acquire Comdisco's business continuity and complementary consulting services businesses for $610 million in cash, subject to certain closing adjustments.

The agreement between HP and Comdisco remains subject to bankruptcy court sales process and approvals since Comdisco's parent company and a number of its U.S. subsidiaries filed voluntary petitions on July 16 for relief under chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

Comdisco's business continuity and professional services focus, core competencies and strong customer base in Fortune 500 and financial services companies are highly complementary to HP Services' current capabilities. HP expects to integrate the Comdisco continuity and professional services businesses within its HP Operations organization, which is part of HP Services. HP has a particularly strong business continuity services presence in Europe and significant expertise in the manufacturing, telecommunications and service provider market segments.

About HP

Hewlett-Packard Company -- a leading global provider of computing and imaging solutions and services -- is focused on making technology and its benefits accessible to all. HP had total revenue from continuing operations of $48.8 billion in its 2000 fiscal year. Information about HP and its products can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.hp.com.

This news release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, as well as assumptions that, if they never materialize or prove incorrect, could cause the results of HP and its consolidated subsidiaries to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements, including any projections of earnings, revenues, or other financial items; any statements of the plans, strategies, and objectives of management for future operations; any statements concerning proposed new products, services, or developments; any statements regarding future economic conditions or performance; statements of belief and any statement of assumptions underlying any of the foregoing. The risks, uncertainties and assumptions referred to above include the ability of HP to retain and motivate key employees; the timely development, production and acceptance of products and services and their feature sets; the challenge of managing asset levels, including inventory; the flow of products into third-party distribution channels; the difficulty of keeping expense growth at modest levels while increasing revenues; and other risks that are described from time to time in HP's Securities and Exchange Commission reports, including but not limited to the annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended Oct. 31, 2000, and subsequently filed reports. HP assumes no obligation and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements.