Published in News

HP sued over Autonomy cock-up

by on27 November 2012



Shareholder miffed that it did not look closer

Maker of expensive printer ink HP has been sued by an angry investor who claims the company knew statements about its Autonomy acquisition were misleading and led the stock to fall.

A proposed class action lawsuit was filed in a San Francisco federal court. HP bought British software firm Autonomy for a $11.1 billion last year but made an $8.8 billion write-down on its acquisition claiming the company inflated sales with improper accounting.

Autonomy co-founder Mike Lynch has denied any wrongdoing. The lawsuit, one of the first to be filed by investors on the Autonomy mess, said HP hid the fact it gained control of Autonomy based on financial statements that could not be relied upon.
It claims HP had not revealed to investors that it tried to undo the Autonomy agreement before it closed because of the accounting issues.

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