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HP's FAQ about distribution of Agilent shares - mangled version  (Apr 25, 2022)

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This page is no longer available on the HP website. Retrieved from the public Internet Archive "Wayback Machine" on Apr 24, 2022.

By the time the automated Internet Archive system downloaded this page from the public HP website on May 12, 2015 -- it had been restructured and mangled.

Highlighting added by HPAA. Extracted from original 18-click question-by-question page.


Investor relations / FAQ / FAQ about distribution of Agilent shares [Page is undated.]

FAQ about distribution of Agilent shares

1. What percentage of the original cost of my HWP shares should be allocated to the Agilent shares I receive?

On a rounded basis,

- 22% of the original cost of your HWP shares may be allocated to the aggregate of Agilent shares plus cash in lieu of fractional shares.
- The remaining 78% may be allocated to the original HWP shares.

If you wish to carry the calculation out to more decimal places, please consult with your tax advisor and also see the Information Statement booklet and the U.S. Tax Information sheet. (These links go to PDF files. To view PDF files, you need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer. Acrobat Reader is a free plug-in. You can download the latest version or download a version with accessibility features .) For purposes of this precise calculation, at market close on June 2, 2000 (the distribution date) the closing price of HWP common stock on the "regular way" market was $142.06 and on the "ex-dividend market" was $111.00, and the closing price of Agilent common stock was $81.875. Because a variety of means of calculating the allocation of tax basis may be permissible, if you choose not to use the 22%/78% calculation set forth above, please discuss your particular calculation with your tax advisor.

[See HPAA's copy of detailed HP Tax Letter ]

2. What average per share price was used to determine the cash I received in lieu of fractional shares?

For the distribution to HP shareowners of cash in lieu of fractional shares, Computershare, HP's distribution agent, aggregated all fractional shares into whole shares and sold them in the open market on behalf of HP shareowners. The net proceeds of these sales averaged $77.0068 per share.

3. Do I use the dates on which I purchased my HWP shares to determine the capital gain/loss holding period of the Agilent shares I received in the distribution?

Yes. The purchase dates of the HWP shares are used to determine the holding periods of the distributed Agilent shares.

4. When did I need to own HP shares in order to receive Agilent shares?

You must have been an owner of record of HP shares by 5:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time on the record date, May 2, 2000, in order to receive Agilent shares. Shareowners should be aware that if they sold HP shares between May 2 and June 2, 2000, they may have sold their right to Agilent shares in the distribution. To learn more about this subject, please see question 14 below.

5. How many shares of Agilent was I entitled to receive in the distribution?

The distribution was made on the basis of .3814 of a share of Agilent for each HP common share outstanding. To calculate the exact number of Agilent shares for each HP share, we divided the 380 million Agilent shares to be distributed by the outstanding HP shares on the record date. For purposes of calculating the distribution ratio, as of the record date, HP had approximately 996,329,000 shares of common stock outstanding.  [HPAA's copy of detailed HP Tax Letter ]

Stock certificates for whole shares of Agilent and cash payments for fractional shares were mailed to HP shareowners by our transfer agent, Computershare. [HPAA comment: This answer is incomplete -- see highlights in answers 6, 7, 9, 11, and 14 below.]

6. When were my Agilent shares mailed?

If you hold your HP shares in a certificate, shares of Agilent were mailed to you on or about June 2, 2000 by HP’s transfer agent, Computershare. If you have not received your shares, please contact Computershare at 1-877-309-9856 or 1-312-588-4672.

7. If I hold my HP shares through my stockbroker, bank or other nominee, how were my Agilent shares credited to me?

If you hold your HP shares through a stockbroker, bank or other nominee, that firm should have credited your Agilent shares to your account.


8. Did the trading price of either HP or Agilent affect the number of shares I receive?


No, the trading prices of the stocks did not affect the number of shares you receive.

9. Did the number of HP shares I own increase or decrease after the distribution?

The distribution did not change the number of HP shares you own. If you have an HP certificate, you will not need to send in your certificate.

If you are an employee or former employee of Hewlett-Packard or Agilent and own shares through HP’s benefit plans, please visit the hpNOW employee web site or the Agilent Employee Information and Resource Center web site.

10. Where can I get more information about Agilent?

Information about Agilent Technologies is available on Agilent’s website at www.agilent.com , or you can call 1-877-942-4200. In addition, information about Agilent will be included in the Information Packet mailed to shareowners of record in early May. [HPAA's copy: HP Information Statement ]

11. Who should I call with questions about my stock account or my share certificates?

If you hold your shares in a brokerage or bank account, please contact your representative at that bank or brokerage firm.

If you hold share certificates issued by Hewlett-Packard in your name, or if you are enrolled in HP’s Dividend Reinvestment and Stock Purchase Program, please call Computershare at 1-877-309-9856 or 1-312-588-4672.

12. Will I still receive my HP cash dividend on HP shares?

In May, the Board of Directors of HP declared a regular cash dividend of 16 cents per share on the company’s common stock. This dividend, the third in HP’s fiscal year 2000, is payable on July 12, 2000 to shareowners of record on June 21, 2000. So, if you are an HP shareowner of record as of June 21, 2000, you will receive the cash dividend.

In the future, payment and amount of dividends by HP will continue to be subject to the discretion of the board of directors and will depend on results of operations, financial conditions, cash requirements, future prospects and other factors deemed relevant by the board.

13. Is the distribution tax-free?

The U.S. Internal Revenue Services has ruled in a private letter that the distribution of Agilent will be free of U.S. federal income taxes. This means that for U.S. federal income tax purposes, HP shareowners will not recognize a gain or loss when they receive Agilent shares. However, depending upon your cost basis in HP, a gain or loss may be recognized upon sale of your Agilent shares. Any cash received in lieu of fractional shares will be taxable for U.S. federal income tax purposes.  [HPAA's copy of HP Tax Letter ]

International shareowners should consult with a personal tax advisor to determine the taxable effect of this distribution. It is expected that in most jurisdictions outside the United States, the distribution may be taxable.

14. Was I entitled to receive the Agilent stock dividend for all HP shares that I own?

You must have been a shareowner of HP as of 5:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time on May 2, 2000 (the record date) to receive Agilent shares. This means that you must have owned Hewlett-Packard Company in either a certificate form, as an account with Computershare, (our transfer agent) or in your brokerage or bank account. If you hold a mutual fund that owns Hewlett-Packard Company, you need to check with your mutual fund advisor to see if you received a distribution of Agilent shares.

If you are an employee or former employee of Hewlett-Packard or Agilent and own shares through HP’s benefit plans, please visit the hpNOW employee web site or the Agilent Employee Information and Resource Center web site.

15. If a mutual fund I am invested in holds Hewlett-Packard shares, was I entitled to receive Agilent shares?

If you hold a mutual fund that owns Hewlett-Packard Company, you need to check with your mutual fund advisor to see if you will be receiving a distribution of Agilent shares.

If you are an employee or former employee of Hewlett-Packard or Agilent and own shares through HP’s benefit plans, please visit the hpNOW employee web site or the Agilent Employee Information and Resource Center web site. Restricted shares held under the employee stock purchase plan or one of HP’s incentive stock plans were treated differently.

16. Why were there different stock symbols for HP?

The difference in the stock symbols is due to the creation of two markets in HP stock: a "regular way" and an "ex-distribution" market. Between the record date and the distribution date, the regular way market traded HP stock under the ticker symbol HWP and included an entitlement to receive the dividend of Agilent shares. The ex-distribution market traded HP stock under the ticker symbol HWP WI (i.e. without the distribution of Agilent shares) and did not include an entitlement to receive shares of Agilent. Since the HWP shares include Agilent shares, the price of these shares was higher than the price of the HWP WI shares.

People who purchased shares of HP common stock under the ticker HWP will receive Agilent shares shortly after the distribution. People who sold shares of HP common stock under the ticker HWP sold their entitlement to receive shares of Agilent.

The ex-distribution market ended at market close on June 2, 2000 and HP again trades only under one ticker symbol, HWP.

17. Why were there different stock symbols for Agilent?

The difference in the stock symbols was due to the creation of two markets in Agilent stock: a "regular way" and a "when-issued" market. Between the record date and the distribution date, the regular way market traded the Agilent stock that was not held by HP under the ticker symbol A. Under the ticker symbol, A WI, the when-issued market traded the Agilent stock owned by HP that was distributed to HP shareholders. Those who purchased shares in this market were entitled to receive shares of Agilent after the June distribution.

The when-issued market ended at market close on June 2, 2000 and Agilent again trades only under the ticker symbol, A.

18. Why was the HWP WI price different from the HWP price?

HWP included the attached value of the Agilent shares, so its price was higher.

HWP WI represented HP without the value of the Agilent shares, so its price was lower.


Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20150512165326/http://h30261.www3.hp.com/faq/faq-about-distribution-of-agilent-shares.aspx


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