Hewlett-Packard to Pay $100 Million to Settle Suit Over Autonomy Purchase
ByHewlett-Packard’s ill-fated acquisition of the software maker Autonomy will cost another $100 million, as the company prepares to settle class-action litigation tied to the 2011 deal. HP wound up paying $10 billion for Autonomy, 11 times greater than its annual revenue of $870 million. Only a month later, HP fired its chief executive, Léo Apotheker, one of the deal’s biggest backers, as the company struggled to justify disappointing sales and a series of missteps. HP wrote off most of the purchase price for Autonomy after saying that the company had misrepresented its true value. Autonomy’s founder has denied the allegations. Hewlett-Packard said on Tuesday that its insurance would pay the $100 million to a settlement fund to resolve a lawsuit stemming from the impairment charge. The money ultimately will go to people who bought HP shares between Aug. 19, 2011, and Nov. 20, 2012. HP insists that the litigation has no merit, but that it chose to avoid a protracted legal battle…
Hewlett-Packard to Pay $100 Million to Settle Suit Over Autonomy Purchase
