THE Serious Fraud Office is investigating computer giant Hewlett-Packard’s (HP) claim that it was duped when it bought British software maker Autonomy for $10 billion (£6.7bn) in 2011. The US giant quickly wrote off $8.8bn.
The SFO inquiry is the latest legal fallout from a deal that has saddled HP with massive losses and depressed its stock price.
The US justice department began looking into the matter last year, shortly after HP accused Autonomy employees of fabricating sales in an alleged ruse that drove up the company’s sale price.
Autonomy’s founder and former chief executive Mike Lynch has denied HP’s claims and demanded the company provides more evidence to support its allegations.