Major Changes Pay Off: Xerox shares are up 84 percent so far this year. Xerox reported on Tuesday the sale of its 25 percent stake in Fuji Xerox, the joint venture between Xerox and Fujifilm, for $2.3 billion. The complex deal fell apart between the two companies after investors Carl Icahn and Darwin Deason argued it undervalued Xerox — and Fujifilm sued for breach of contract. The settlement is favorable news for the company and its investors.

Print Runs Dry: In early October, HP announced major restructuring that would cut its workforce by 7,000 to 9,000 to save $1 billion a year by 2022. The company also announced a 10 percent boost in stock dividends and increased share buybacks. However, the market hasn’t responded favorably to these announcements and HP shares are down 10 percent so far this year. In addition, HP ex-CEO Dion Weisler stepped down for health reasons and was succeeded by Enrique Lores, who took his place on November 1, 2019.

The Minnow Swallows the Whale: HP is much larger than Xerox, which makes this rumored deal more interesting. While these types of deals are rare, they have happened. While nobody has seen the letter or what the cash-and-stock split would be for the HP-Xerox deal, it’s likely HP would be the controlling shareholder and replace HP’s management team. It’s also not uncommon in cases like this that the larger company instead attempts to acquire the smaller company. If that were the case, it would more than likely be the Xerox management team that would be replaced.