HP mismanaged $11bn Autonomy deal claims boss
US COMPUTER firm HP has been accused of trying to “cover up both its mismanagement” of its $11.1bn (£6.6bn) Autonomy takeover in 2011, and a “ploy to falsely accuse others” by its former finance chief.
Sushovan Hussain, whom HP says it will pursue in court over its claims he was “one of the chief architects of the massive fraud on HP”, added in a court filing yesterday: “HP’s opposition swells with bile, but its sound and fury signify nothing.”
A year after HP acquired Autonomy, the second-largest British software firm at the time, it wrote down the value of the firm by $8.8bn and accused its founder and chief Mike Lynch, as well as Hussain, of misleading HP over its true value.
Lynch said yesterday: “Evidence has shown the accusations HP made in November 2012 are wrong. Was this negligence or was it worse? It’s time for Meg Whitman [HP boss] to answer.”
HP alleges that Autonomy inflated its revenue and profit by as much as 81 per cent before it was acquired. Autonomy reported profit after tax of £105.7m in 2010, but this figure was revised down to just £19.6m in the most recent accounts filed by HP.
“It’s preposterous for him to complain about HP and our shareholders joining forces and holding him accountable for the massive fraud that both believe he perpetrated upon the company,” an HP spokesperson said yesterday.
“If Hussain is truly interested in clearing his name, he should welcome the coming suit.”