HP completes Autonomy acquisition

Hewlett-Packard has secured enough shares of Autonomy to take control of the UK software company.

Shareholders owning 87 per cent of Autonomy's stock have accepted HP's offer to purchase the company for £25.50 per share, or about $US10.3 billion, HP said in a regulatory filing.

"As such, all conditions relating to the offer have now been satisfied, allowing HP to acquire control of Autonomy," HP said.

HP announced plans to buy Autonomy last month, on the same day it said it would scrap its TouchPad development and consider spinning off its PC business.

The deal, engineered by former CEO Leo Apotheker, was a controversial one, with some saying HP offered too high a price. HP has since appointed a new CEO, former eBay chief Meg Whitman, who has stood behind the deal.

Autonomy is the UK's largest independent software vendor. It makes a broad range of information management products, including software that searches through company documents for compliance and archiving purposes.

It also operates a public cloud that stores petabytes of corporate data. Earlier this year, IDC said Autonomy was one of the fastest-growing search and discovery vendors.

HP said the deal will strengthen its data analytics, cloud and workflow management offerings, and help its customers manage ever-increasing volumes of data. Autonomy will operate as a separate business unit, let by founder and CEO Mike Lynch, who will report to Whitman.

While HP now has control of the company, it said it would leave its offer open "until further notice" so that further stockholders can offer their shares.

James Niccolai covers data centers and general technology news for IDG News Service. Follow James on Twitter at @jniccolai. James's e-mail address is james_niccolai@idg.com

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