HP commits $10 billion more to stock repurchases

Hewlett-Packard Co., the world’s largest maker of personal computers and printers, said Monday that its board had approved an additional $10 billion for share repurchases.

The move adds to $4.9 billion already available and will help offset dilution from employee stock purchases, HP said.

The company will repurchase at least $3 billion in shares in the fourth quarter ending in October, interim Chief Executive Cathie Lesjak said in a statement.

The Palo Alto company is in a bidding war with Dell Inc. for data storage provider 3Par Inc. of Fremont. HP last week topped Dell in the bidding for 3Par for a third time. HP offered the largest premium in a competitive situation since 2001, according to Bloomberg data.

HP bought back about $2.6 billion worth of shares last quarter, the company said. In November, HP set aside $8 billion for buybacks.

HP shares climbed 56 cents, or 1.5%, to $38.56 in trading Monday. They have fallen 25% this year.

The company is searching for a new chief executive after the Aug. 6 departure of Mark Hurd. The former chief executive stepped down after an inquiry into sexual harassment claims found he filed inaccurate expense reports to conceal a personal relationship with a marketing contractor.

Also Monday, HP agreed to pay $55 million to settle a U.S. investigation into the company. The agreement resolves a Justice Department probe of whether the company overcharged taxpayers in a government contract.

The accord also settles claims, first filed in a lawsuit by a whistleblower and then joined by the government, that HP paid kickbacks to win government business.

HP said Aug. 2 that it was settling the case and trimming earnings by 2 cents a share in the third quarter. The U.S. earlier settled similar kickback allegations involving EMC Corp., IBM Corp., PricewaterhouseCoopers and Computer Sciences Corp.

HP did not respond to requests for comment.