Autonomy Former CEO Sues H-P for More Than $150 Million
October 01 2015 - 3:10PM
Dow Jones News
The long-running court battle between Hewlett-Packard Co. and
former executives of Autonomy Corp. rages on.
On Thursday, Autonomy's former CEO Michael Lynch filed a
countersuit against H-P for more than $150 million in damages.
In March, H-P sued Mr. Lynch and his top financial executive,
Sushovan Hussain, for $5.1 billion, claiming they willfully
inflated the British software maker's finances ahead of the
deal.
The Autonomy acquisition proved to be a disaster for H-P. Less
than a year after the 2011 acquisition, the company took an $8.8
billion write-down on the deal.
In his countersuit in the High Court of Justice Chancery
Division in London, Mr. Lynch put the blame squarely on H-P's
management. "HP mismanaged the integration and failed to implement
many of the key decisions made pre-acquisition," stated Mr. Lynch's
counterclaim.
In a statement, Mr. Lynch argued that H-P's subsequent portrayal
of the deal has been "highly damaging to me and misleading to the
stock market."
Mr. Hussain, who isn't a party to Mr. Lynch's legal action,
wasn't immediately available for comment.
In court filings, H-P said that Autonomy engaged in a number of
improper business practices to inflate its finances, including
suspicious software licensing and data-hosting deals. Messrs. Lynch
and Hussain have denied these claims.
"Mike Lynch's lawsuit is a laughable and desperate attempt to
divert attention from the $5 billion lawsuit HP has filed and the
ongoing criminal investigation," H-P said in a statement. "HP
anxiously looks forward to the day Lynch and Hussain will be forced
to answer for their actions in court."
In January, the U.K.'s Serious Fraud Office closed a two-year
investigation into Autonomy, citing a lack of evidence. A U.S.
probe is continuing.
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 01, 2015 14:55 ET (18:55 GMT)
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