INTERNET consultant Proxicom Inc has agreed to be acquired by Dimension Data Holdings Plc after Proxicom paid a $10m fee to end an earlier merger pact with Compaq Computer Corp. Compaq has indicated it would not sweeten its $266m takeover bid for Proxicom, after Proxicom embraced an alternative $376m offer by SA’s Dimension Data. On May 7, Didata, South Africa’s biggest information technology company, offered $7.50 a share for Reston, Virginia-based Proxicom, a 30% premium to the $5.75 per share cash bid on April 26 by Houston-based Compaq. Under the terms of the merger agreement between Compaq and Proxicom, Proxicom was entitled to terminate that pact should Compaq fail to match the Dimension Data proposal by May 14. Compaq bowed out on Friday, saying that it did not feel that current economics warranted increasing its bid for Proxicom. Didata will now launch a tender offer for all outstanding shares of Proxicom. – Reuters