Hewlett-Packard Said to Be Close to Buying E.D.S.

The Hewlett-Packard Company, the personal computer and printer maker, is close to a deal to acquire the Electronic Data Systems Corporation, the operator of corporate computer systems, for $12 billion to $13 billion, people with knowledge of the talks said Monday.
The deal would be Hewlett-Packard’s largest since its $20 billion merger with Compaq Computers six years ago.

While Hewlett-Packard is best known as a maker of PCs and printers, it has been quickly expanding what it calls its Technology Solutions Group, a unit run by the executive vice president Ann Livermore. It sells software and hardware to large companies, but also provides consulting services and manages corporate data centers. Last year the unit ‘s revenue increased 10 percent to $37.7 billion in revenue, about the same amount as H.P.’s PC unit.