OEM releases statement regarding non-cash impairment charge against software firm.
A statement released by HP has addressed the issues relating to its recent write-down of UK software firm Autonomy, against which it has made a non-cash impairment charge of $8.8 billion (€6.8 billion) after the OEM claimed that it was misled into purchasing the company.
In the statement, HP asserts that it has been “very transparent about the issues relating to Autonomy” and the charge, adding that “the majority of this impairment charge, more than $5 billion (€3.9 billion), is linked to serious accounting improprieties, disclosure failures and outright misrepresentations discovered by HP’s internal investigation into Autonomy’s practices prior to and in connection with the acquisition”.
The statement was part of HP’s 2012 10-K, which provides an overview of the company’s financial condition. It continues by stating that “HP is cooperating with the Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the UK’s Serious Fraud Office” in relation to Autonomy. “We continue to believe that the authorities and the courts are the appropriate venues in which to address the wrongdoing discovered at Autonomy”.
HP’s 2012 10-K filing has been awaited by Autonomy’s former owner Mike Lynch, who was reportedly eager “to see if it sheds more light” on HP’s reasons for its claims against Autonomy, with Lynch adding that “we do not understand the allegations, or how they could possibly add up to a writedown of over $5 billion”. A significant number of jobs are also expected to be cut from Autonomy, with some reporting that up to 200 jobs could be lost.