("Autonomy Board To Recommend H-P Takeover To Shareholders," at
8:08 p.m. ET, misstated the deal value in the second paragraph. The
correct version follows:)
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
Tech company Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) and U.K. software company
Autonomy Corp. (AUTNY, AU.LN) late Thursday said Autonomy's board
would recommend shareholders accept H-P's takeover offer, quickly
reaching an accord just hours after news of the companies' talks
had leaked.
In a press release, the Autonomy board said it intends to
unanimously recommend shareholders accept H-P's offer of GBP25.50
($42.11) per share. The companies said that offer values Autonomy
at about GBP7.09 billion ($11.7 billion) on a fully diluted
basis.
The release said Autonomy's directors also entered "irrevocable
undertakings" to accept the offer on behalf of their own holdings,
representing a total of about 9.1% of the company's share
capital.
News of their purchase talks between the two surfaced earlier
Thursday in reports based on people familiar with the matter,
prompting both companies to slowly confirm various elements of the
deal. Autonomy had confirmed it was in talks with H-P, while H-P
released the GBP25.50-a-share offer figure as it announced
third-quarter results and a slew of operational changes.
After hours, H-P shares were down 9.8% at $26.63. The company
also announced it was exploring a possible spinoff of its
personal-computer business, reported a modest increase in
third-quarter earnings and offered a weak outlook for the current
quarter and year.
-By Joan E. Solsman, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2291;
joan.solsman@dowjones.com