Shareholders approve Palm, Handspring merger

PalmSource now on its own

By Tony Smith • Get more from this author

Posted in Mobile, 28th October 2003 19:37 GMT

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Palm shareholders today voted to approve the company's acquisition of Handspring, the firm created by the PDA pioneer's founders after leaving Palm in 1998.

Handspring's shareholders gave the move their thumbs up too.

The agreement of both sets of stakeholders means the acquisition will now go ahead, having already been granted regulatory approval. Last week, Handspring settled two lawsuits that might have blocked the takeover.

And with the deal done, Palm OS development business PalmSource now becomes a truly independent entity, and the Palm Solutions Group rechristens itself PalmOne with the PLMO Nasdaq ticker symbol. PalmSource stock will be traded as PSRC.

Palm shareholders will get the 86 per cent of PSRC stock Palm holds, each receiving 0.31 PalmSource shares for every Palm share they own. Immediately afterward, Palm becomes PalmOne, which will then issue 13.9 million shares to Handspring shareholders on an exchange rate of 0.09 PalmOne shares for one Handspring share. It's all timetabled so that Handspring shareholders do not receive any gratis PalmSource stock. ®

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