Business: HP rejects Xerox's acquisition offer

HP is the second biggest PC manufacturer and one of the oldest players in the business. HP laptops like the HP Spectre and HP EliteBooks are well known brands. Recently though, it seemed like HP's long history as a PC manufacturer might be ending, as the technology company Xerox proposed to acquire HP for $33.5 billion.

HP has officially confirmed the offer from Xerox and rejected it at the same time. The reason: Xerox's offer was too low according to HP. Also, HP fears that the company may be burdened by debts that Xerox might have.

The merger of the two companies is not completely out of the question according to HP – but the company made it clear that such a merger would only happen if HP would take over Xerox, not the other way around. For such a merger, HP demands more information on the financial situation of Xerox. By the looks of it, this story might end in an acquisition battle.

Xerox is well known for the invention of the computer mouse and the graphical user interface (GUI). Both developments were later adapted by Microsoft and Apple into their products, which was a major boost to the evolution of the PC platform. Lately, Xerox was mainly active as a manufacturer of printers and scanners. Compared with HP Inc., Xerox is a much smaller company based on its revenue.