Published in News

HP buys Eucalyptus

by on12 September 2014

hp logo new

To cure CEO’s cough

The maker of expensive printer ink, HP is about to make one of its few purchases since it cocked up buying Autonomy in 2011.

HP wants to buy cloud software startup Eucalyptus Software which provides open-source software for building private and hybrid clouds, or Internet-based computing services.

It is not a big sale -- HP is tipped to pay less than $100 million. The acquisition is expected to close in the fiscal fourth quarter, after which Eucalyptus Chief Executive Officer Marten Mickos will join HP as senior vice president and head of its cloud business. He will report to CEO Meg Whitman and be tasked to buy HP's "Helion" cloud computing services. Martin Fink, who now leads the cloud business, will remain chief technology officer as well as director of HP Labs, which focuses on researching next-generation products.

Although it has been making losses, HP has a lot of cash in the bank. It ended the July 2014 quarter with $4.9 billion in operating company net cash. In August, Whitman told analysts HP was in a position to make acquisitions if needed, though it remains committed to returning half its cash to shareholders.

 

Rate this item
(0 votes)

Read more about: