"In an interview, Ann M. Livermore, an executive vice president of H.P., described computer networking as a $40 billion-a-year market with high profit margins that is growing briskly and dominated by Cisco, which has so far had little head-to-head competition.
"“H.P. is eager and now positioned to disrupt the networking industry,” Ms. Livermore said.
"The offer price, $7.90 a share, is at a premium of about 39 percent to 3Com’s closing price on Wednesday. The deal was announced after the market closed."
