Hewlett-Packard in £7.1bn software deal

A technology company set up in 1996 is to be taken over by Hewlett-Packard in a £7.1 billion deal that will net its founder more than £500 million.

Cambridge-based Autonomy, which employs around 2,700 people in the UK and US, supplies software for searching unstructured information such as emails and text messages. Clients include Procter & Gamble, Nestle and Shell.

If the takeover is approved by shareholders, founder Dr Mike Lynch will realise more than half a billion pounds from his 8% stake in Autonomy, although he has agreed to remain at the helm of the business.

The acquisition is part of a radical restructuring that is expected to see Hewlett-Packard spin off its market-leading PC business in favour of concentrating on software and IT services work.

Autonomy is one of the UK's biggest technology success stories, having pioneered software that helps companies to search data, particularly in cases involving compliance and legal issues.

Dr Lynch said: "This is a momentous day in Autonomy's history. 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."

He said Hewlett-Packard shared this vision and would enable Autonomy to bring its technology to a "truly global stage".

It is the second major deal in the technology sector this week after Google's £7.7 billion acquisition of handset maker Motorola Mobility.

Autonomy's shares jumped 75% to 2510.5p in the FTSE 100 Index today, within sight of HP's proposed takeover price of 2550p a share.

Analysts believe a counter-bid could still emerge for Autonomy.

Gerardus Vos, an analyst at Investec Securities, added: "Although the valuation appears rich, we see this deal as HP playing catch-up in the "big-data" arena, where we have seen a rapid consolidation by IBM, Oracle, EMC and Adobe."

Source: PA