Hp, which rebranded its enterprise division as hpe earlier this year, has been locked in a longrunning battle with autonomy after an acquisition descended into a bitter and very public feud. Another change for hp in the preacquisition process regarding the autonomy deal related to. Hp s acquisition of autonomy was supposed to form the central part of the us groups move into software, but the plan fell apart after the disastrous deal cost hp shareholders billions of. Hps major acquisitions were sometimes followed by major writedowns, but none rivaling tuesdays shocking revelations about british software maker autonomy. Hp to acquire leading enterprise information management. Between 2012 and 20, hp had no acquisitions in any of its business segments as the. The sparring over which american car best represented the u. Autonomy boss lynch ramped sales ahead of hp deal, court.
This analysis paints a positive picture so could be wrong. Hps acquisition of autonomy was supposed to form the central part of the us groups move into software, but the plan fell apart after the disastrous deal cost hp shareholders billions of. Hp autonomy, is a global leader in software that processes human information, or unstructured data, including social media, email, video, audio, text and web pages, etc. It is a portal providing relevant information pertaining to the accusations made by hewlett packard hp of alleged financial impropriety at autonomy. Hps acquisition misstep far from the first the mercury news. While hp had demonstrated capability in the hardware market, they possessed very little prowess in software and computing. Unpicking the autonomy acquisition reveals some interesting nuggets that better explain hp s decision to acquire. Defence alleges british software firms accounts underwent limited. While the case focuses on the accounting for mergers and acquisitions, it also provides for a variety of other discussion topics such as the effect of managerial incentives and ceo succession on a.
Hewlettpackard provides products, technologies, software, solutions, and services to individual consumers and small and mediumsized businesses smbs as well as to the government, health, and education sectors worldwide. The majority of companies acquired by hp are based in the united states. Hewlettpackards move last week to acquire information management software vendor autonomy can be seen as a big blast in that war, which could. Autonomy was acquired by hewlettpackard hp in october 2011. Shareholders owning 87 percent of autonomys stock have accepted hps offer. Hp had bought big data firm autonomy with the aim of making it the centerpiece of a plan to transform hp from a computer and printer maker into a. After this twoyear gap, in 2014, hp returned to the acquisition market by acquiring computer networking software company shunra. One is qatalyst partners, the investment bank run by frank p. Hewlett packard enterprise, the it company that split from hps. It means following that process during high stress times. Acquisitions, divestitures, and spinoffs this is the hpaas unofficial directory of 163 acquisitions and 30 divestitures and spinoffs by hp and hewlett packard enterprise. Shortly after hewlettpackard appointed leo apotheker to lead the company, the board approved the acquisition of the ukbased software company, autonomy. The hp acquisition of autonomy lessons learned for doing compliance by the book.
The acquisition of autonomy represented a marked shift in strategy for hp. Egan coaxed the resellers to buy autonomy software by paying them. Hp pairs autonomy and vertica software computerworld. Lane, im running out of software companies, said a person familiar with the conversation. Less than a year later, several top managers and autonomy founder mike lynch were let go due to corporate culture differences and poor financial results. Hp pairs autonomy and vertica software network world. Hp idol allows seamless access to 100% of enterprise data human or machinegenerated. Is hp about to make another disastrous acquisition. Hp enterprise previous iteration hewlett packard co. Even though hp, the company that bought autonomy and later cried fraud no longer exists, the legal problems for one of the autonomys top execs continue. The number of female ceos in the fortune 500 hits an alltime record. A total of 20 acquisitions came from private equity firms. Hewlettpackard is quickly putting to use its recent acquisitions of autonomy and vertica, integrating the software from these companies into a single software package, called the hp next. Hp to settle derivative litigation arising from autonomy.
Hewlett packard offloads last autonomy assets in software. Hp autonomy, previously autonomy corporation plc, is a multinational enterprise software. This represents a premium of about 64 percent over the closing stock price. What cios need to know about hps acquisition of autonomy cio. A corporate merger, like a marriage, can yield a whole stronger than its parts or it can end in utter disaster. Hewlettpackards proposed takeover of the british software maker autonomy was drafted by a small army of investment banks and legal advisers on both sides of the atlantic among the prominent names in listing are two boutique firms. The one bad acquisition that wiped out hps profits the. Hp has acquired 95 companies, including 4 in the last 5 years. Hp settles trio of shareholder lawsuits over autonomy.
Doing something by the book means more than following a process. Hp launched its internal investigation into these issues after a senior member of autonomy s leadership team came forward, following the departure of autonomy founder mike lynch, alleging that there had been a series of questionable accounting and business practices at autonomy prior to the acquisition by hp. Hp to settle derivative litigation arising from autonomy acquisition. Hp settles trio of shareholder lawsuits over autonomy acquisition. This website is maintained by dr mike lynch on behalf of the former management team of autonomy. Hp wanted to create more value with autonomy by expanding its business into the software market, yet in failing to properly integrate autonomy, hp forfeited many of the potential synergistic gains.
Minority stakes are not included, nor are acquisitions made by eds. The insane life of autonomy billionaire mike lynch. Hewlettpackard has secured enough shares of autonomy to take control of the u. Thus, apotheker attempted to catalyze hp s entrance in the software market by buying an already wellestablished company. Hewlettpackard, well known for its computer hardware, thought the synergies it could have with autonomy coupled with its brand recognition would give it a strong presence in the software market. Hp had bought big data firm autonomy with the aim of making it the centerpiece of a plan to transform hp from a computer and printer maker into a software focused enterprise services firm, a shift. Unpicking the autonomy acquisition reveals some interesting nuggets that better explain hps decision to acquire. Autonomy boss lynch ramped sales ahead of hp deal, court told. The hp acquisition of autonomy lessons learned for doing.
Hp had buyers remorse over illfated autonomy deal, court hears. A scalable database platform that is custombuilt for realtime analytics. One of the things that i think gets missed when discussing compliance programs is the need for rigor in the process. A pioneer in its industry, autonomys unique meaningbased technology is able to make sense of and process unstructured, human information, and draw real business value from that meaning. The transaction was unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both hp and autonomy. All leading hadoop distributions are supported by hps open strategy. Autonomy corporation develops software that process human information and unstructured. The former management team of autonomy strongly rejects the accusations made by hp. Written using public sources, this case uses hewlettpackards hp purchase of autonomy corporation autonomy to analyze the accounting treatment for the acquisition and subsequent goodwill impairment. Autonomy, an hp company, is a marketleading software company that helps organizations all over the world understand the meaning in information. Hewlettpackard is planning to aggressively seek recompense for alleged accounting fraud related to the acquisition of its autonomy unit, which resulted in the vendor taking a noncash.
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