RENEE MONTAGNE, host: NPR's business news starts with a big technology merger.</s>RENEE MONTAGNE, host: The world's largest maker of personal computers and printers, Hewlett-Packard, says it's buying technology outsourcing giant, Electronic Data Systems, for nearly 14 billion dollars. NPR's Jim Zarroli has more on the deal.</s>JIM ZARROLI: The deal brings together one of the most storied companies in Silicon Valley history, and one of the countries largest providers of IT services. EDS, which was founded by Ross Perot, provides computer data management and help desk support for a variety of clients. It's a fast growing part of the tech industry, largely because more and more companies are contracting out some tech services. Buying EDS is expected to help Hewlett-Packard compete against IBM which is still the leader in the field. Analyst Ben Pring, of the Gartner Group, says the merger could be difficult to pull off, partly because the two companies have sharply different business cultures.</s>Mr. BENJAMIN PRING (Gartner Group): It'll be interesting to see, from a cultural perspective, what that integration would be like. I think some of their competitors - EDS and HP's competitors - would be secretly rubbing their hands, thinking this was going to be a tricky one to pull off.</s>JIM ZARROLI: Hewlett-Packard said the deal has been approved by the boards of both companies and will close during the second half of the year.</s>JIM ZARROLI: Jim Zarroli, NPR News, New York.
The world's largest maker of personal computers and printers, Hewlett-Packard, says it is buying technology outsourcing giant Electronic Data Systems for nearly $14 billion.