The United States Department of Justice is looking into
Hewlett-Packard Co.’s $10.3 billion acquisition of search company
Autonomy, according to the technology hardware manufacturer’s
regulatory filing with the Security and Exchange Commission.
HP had earlier reported that it had to write off $5 billion due to its controversial 2011 acquisition of Autonomy. The company alleges that Autonomy inflated its value though “serious accounting improprieties, disclosure failures and outright misrepresentation.”
Meg Whitman, HP CEO
Apart from the SEC, HP also provided the United Kingdom’s Serious Fraud Office information about the alleged fraud, according to a report from Computerworld.
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Autonomy’s founder Mike Lynch however continues to contest HP’s allegations.
“We continue to reject these allegations in the strongest terms,” Lynch wrote in a letter published last Friday. “Autonomy’s financial accounts were properly maintained in accordance with applicable regulations, fully audited by Deloitte, and available to HP during the due diligence process.”
“Simply put, these allegations are false, and in the absence of further detail we cannot understand what HP believes to be the basis for them,” he wrote.
In an earlier interview HP CEO Meg Whitman said her company’s relied on the audited financial statements when agreeing on the purchase price. She said HP also had its own outside auditors look at the financial statements before approving the deal.
However, she claims, different things came to light after Autonomy officials left the company following the closure of the deal.
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