HP wasn't exactly doing well before, but the PC maker is definitely in financial deep water today, and the company is putting the finger on the people in charge of a company HP acquired in 2011.
Today, HP announced it will take a massive one time charge of $8.8 billion, related to its purchase of the UK-based Autonomy, which it completed last year for $10.3 billion. In its statement, HP doesn't mince any words:
HP is extremely disappointed to find that some former members of Autonomy’s management team used accounting improprieties, misrepresentations and disclosure failures to inflate the underlying financial metrics of the company, prior to Autonomy’s acquisition by HP. These efforts appear to have been a willful effort to mislead investors and potential buyers, and severely impacted HP management’s ability to fairly value Autonomy at the time of the deal.
The company added that it will take the results of its investigation to the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s Enforcement Division and the UK’s Serious Fraud Office. It also plans to take certain parties to civil court.
Even though HP feels it was scammed by the owners of Autonomy, it claims it is sticking with its purchase, saying, "We remain 100 percent committed to Autonomy and its industry-leading technology.” In September, it was announced that Microsoft’s president of North America, Robert Youngjohns, was going to move to HP to take over the Autonomy division.
Source: HP press release | Image via HP
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