autonomy

HP's Autonomy acquisition probed by U.K. regulators

Hewlett-Packard has a way of quietly announcing its dealings with Autonomy in its annual and quarterly regulatory filings.

In its quarterly report to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission today, the company announced that the U.K. Serious Fraud Office has launched an investigation into the alleged irregularities of HP's acquisition of Autonomy.

Here's what HP wrote in its filing:

As a result of the findings of an ongoing investigation, HP has provided information to the U.K. Serious Fraud Office, the U.S. Department of Justice and the SEC related to the accounting improprieties, disclosure failures … Read more

Autonomy founder fires back at HP after news of DOJ inquiry

Autonomy founder and former CEO Mike Lynch is firing back at Hewlett-Packard after the release of HP's annual report with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission today. The report states that the federal government opened an inquiry into HP's acquisition of Autonomy in November and hints that Autonomy's accounting is partially to blame.

"It is extremely disappointing that HP has again failed to provide a detailed calculation of its $5 billion write-down of Autonomy, or publish any explanation of the serious allegations it has made against the former management team, in its annual report filing … Read more

HP confirms: Feds investigating the Autonomy acquisition

Hewlett-Packard's purchase of enterprise software company Autonomy has already resulted in controversy, lawsuits and an $8.8 billion charge against earnings. Added to that list today: a Department of Justice investigation.

HP's annual report, released today, confirms that the federal government has opened an inquiry" into the deal.

"On November 21, 2012, representatives of the U.S. Department of Justice advised HP that they had opened an investigation relating to Autonomy," the report says. "HP is cooperating with the three investigating agencies."

HP acquired Autonomy in August 2011 for $11.1 billion, or … Read more

HP claims 'extensive evidence' of Autonomy accounting scam

Hewlett Packard says it has discovered "extensive evidence" that an unspecified number of former employees of Autonomy had cooked the books prior to HP's $11.1 billion acquisition of the software company.

In its fourth quarter earnings report last week, HP announced it was taking an $8.8 billion charge related to its purchase of Autonomy. At the time, HP said that it bought the company based on pumped-up and fraudulent accounting. Since then, HP and Autonomy founder and former CEO Mike Lynch have engaged in a public war of words about who was really to blame … Read more

HP now target of a lawsuit over Autonomy troubles

In what could be the beginning of many lawsuits, Hewlett-Packard is now reportedly being sued by an investor over the brewing Autonomy kerfuffle.

Reuters reported today an investor is suing HP, claiming that the company knew its statements about its Autonomy acquisition were misleading, which led the stock to fall.

The proposed class action lawsuit, Nicolow v. Hewlett-Packard, was filed at the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California in San Francisco.

For reference, there is a lot of unrest surrounding HP after it was revealed that the tech giant lost $8.8 billion over its purchase of Autonomy … Read more

Autonomy's wizardry: Bringing still images to virtual life

Autonomy CEO Mike Lynch took to the stage of at Techonomy 2011 and gave a glimpse of some amazing stuff that phones and tablet cameras will soon be able to do.

Autonomy, which Hewlett Packard just acquired for almost $12 billion, bills itself as a leader in "meaning based computing," a tagline that's easy to dismiss. Then Lynch brought out an iPad to demonstrate Autonomy's technology, and he wowed the audience. And this was a jaded crowd, folks.

Lynch had an assistant hold up poster-size images--an ad for a Harry Potter move, a front page of … Read more

HP gains control of Autonomy

Hewlett-Packard said today it has gained control of Autonomy via a cash tender offer.

The company said that it has acquired more than 87 percent of Autonomy for £25.50 ($39.72) per share in cash.

With the deal, which has been derided for being too expensive by analysts, HP gains 25,000 customer accounts and can pursue its plan to beef up its software unit.

Autonomy is seen as a specialist in managing unstructured data. HP CEO Meg Whitman said Autonomy allows the company "to manage and extract meaning from that data to drive insight, foresight and … Read more

HP's Whitman: PC spinoff, Autonomy deal still on

New HP CEO Meg Whitman said the company's strategy, which revolves around a PC spinoff, a purchase of Autonomy, and finding value for WebOS, stands.

In her first words to analysts and investors, Whitman reiterated that "HP matters" and indicated that the grand plan for the company remains the same. She said HP would work on operations and hitting financial targets. Whitman said:

Going forward, HP will have no higher priority than to do everything in our power to meet the challenges of today's macroeconomic environment and frankly improve our operational and financial performance. At the … Read more

HP is having an identity crisis

Today's news that Hewlett-Packard may sack its relatively new CEO points to an ongoing identity crisis at the big PC maker.

The fact that the world's No.1 supplier of PCs has been trying to disown that very business and everything that goes with it--like its TouchPad tablet--then simultaneously holding out the possibility that it won't spin off PCs points to some very serious identity problems. CEO Leo Apotheker's potential ouster is the latest symptom, according to analysts.

First, a quick look at recent events that preceded today's news. When HP announced earnings back in … Read more