HP Acquires Autonomy for $10 Billion
It's been a big week for HP.
HP last night confirmed that it planned to acquire Autonomy, an information management software firm based in the United Kingdom. The company utilizes a combination of technologies borne out of research at Cambridge University for its development of a variety of enterprise search and knowledge management applications. If all goes according to plan, it will soon become HP's latest acquisition.
Speaking during a quarterly results conference call, HP President and CEO Léo Apotheker said that the company hopes the acquisition of Autonomy will help "accelerate" HP's enterprise software business. The deal, expected to close by the end of this year, is worth $10.3 billion, which equals $42.11 per share for Autonomy. According to PC World, Autonomy and it's 2,700 employees will operate as a business unit within HP and will continue under the leadership of current CEO Mike Lynch.
The news comes at the same time as HP's announcement that it's axing its TouchPad and Pre lines of tablets and smartphones. The company acquired the Pre line and WebOS when it bought Palm last year. HP paid $1.2 billion for the company during former boss Mark Hurd's reign as CEO. At the time, Hurd caused quite a stir when he said he "didn't buy Palm to be in the smartphone business." Just a day later, Hurd went back on his initial statement and insisted that smartphones are part of the company's WebOS plan.
"When we look at the market, we see an array of interconnected devices, including tablets, printers, and of course, smartphones," he said. "We believe webOS can become the backbone for many of HP's small form factor devices, and we expect to expand webOS's footprint beyond just the smartphone market, all while leveraging our financial strength, scale, and global reach to grow in smartphones."
So much for that.
Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox.
Jane McEntegart is a writer, editor, and marketing communications professional with 17 years of experience in the technology industry. She has written about a wide range of technology topics, including smartphones, tablets, and game consoles. Her articles have been published in Tom's Guide, Tom's Hardware, MobileSyrup, and Edge Up.
-
Archean IMO they seems to be rattled atm, and they are taking the same death road which Sun took, to its ultimate demise. Only difference is that HP is in much better financial shape than Sun was.Reply
I am not sure how buying an enterprise search firm can help HP transform into a software solution provider in near future, real money lies e.g. in CRM/ERP when it comes to software. Just to back this up Oracle made more money simply providing maintenance + license renewals etc. than selling solutions to new customers during the last year, and the biggest of them all in this business SAP is well ahead of Oracle. -
3Ball I work for HP Enterprise Services...why is it that I am reading about this on Toms before hearing it internally? /annoyedReply -
sunflier ReplyIt's been a big week for HP and sounds like its going to be a bigger future for Dell.
/fixed -
Archean Well much before toms it was on the BBC, then on The Register ..... beside remember it is weekend time ;)Reply -
amk-aka-Phantom Reply"When we look at the market, we see an array of interconnected devices, including tablets, printers, and of course, smartphones," he said.
Toys, all of them, save the printers. And how does HP plan to make money off that stuff if they stopped making tablets and smartphones? No one needs their "software", lol! -
legacy7955 HP has always been about the hardware, that is what created the company and sustained it, if they basically abandon it they are doomed.Reply
-
liveonc Is it just another company HP bought to let it die, like Palm? If Coca Cola bought Pepsi, just to let it die, I love Pepsi X, & I hate having my choices taken away...Reply -
another company to go through HP Grinder. They gave 49 days to kill Palm. How many days they will give them. What for all these people getting paid millions.Reply