HP landed Palm by increasing its bid following interest from other suitors after logical property and a potential licensing arrangement for the WebOS. The proxy statement, which sparked a good bit of discussion, offers an exciting read on how HP landed Palm. Just put, HP almost fell short of getting Palm. Palm outlines the process to sell itself and the role of "Company C," an unidentified outfit that was in the running until the HP deal was actually declared.

The company was in a tailspin after a Verizon Wireless joint venture failed to send sales; Liquidity was about to become an problem; And Palm didn't have the scale of competitors to really compete.Once Palm's fate was mostly sealed, the company went about auctioning itself off. Palm said it established interest from sixteen companies as well as HP. Six as well as HP entered nondisclosure agreements.