Autonomy acquired by Hewlett-Packard

IT giant Hewlett-Packard (HP) has acquired Autonomy, a UK-based provider of information management software and services, in the second big-ticket technology M&A deal of the week.

Following on from Google’s buy out of Motorola Mobility, HP has made the purchase at the same time as announcing the redirection of the California-headquartered IT business away from hardware and towards cloud and software services.

The deal, for $11 billion (£6.7 billion), is said by HP to complement its existing technology portfolio in data analytics, the cloud and workflow management. Autonomy will continue to operate as a separate entity.

The transaction was described by Autonomy chief executive officer and founder, Mike Lynch, as a ‘momentous day’ in Autonomy’s history.

Lynch adds: ‘From our foundation in 1996, we have been driven by one shared vision: to fundamentally change the IT industry by revolutionising the way people interact with information.

‘HP shares the vision and provides Autonomy with the platform to bring our world-leading technology and innovation to a truly global stage, making the shift to a future age of the information economy a reality.’

The acquisition represents a 64 per cent premium on top of its market capitalisation yesterday.

Leo Apotheker, HP president and chief executive officer, comments: ‘Autonomy presents an opportunity to accelerate our strategic vision to decisively and profitability lead a large and growing space.

Apotheker says that Cambridge-headquartered Autonomy brings a higher value business service that will help HP’s customers mange the ‘explosion of information’.

Todd Cardy

Todd Cardy

Todd was Editor of GrowthBusiness.co.uk between 2010 and 2011 as well as being responsible for publishing our digital and printed magazines focusing on private equity and venture capital.

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