UK fraud office ends HP/Autonomy investigation

19 Jan 2015

The UK’s Serious Fraud Office has closed its investigation into HP’s US$11bn acquisition of software company Autonomy, which was founded by Irishman Dr Mike Lynch.

HP was forced to write down US$8.8bn of the acquisition over alleged accounting abuses at the Cambridge-based software firm.

The Silicon Valley tech giant alleged that Autonomy had misrepresented its sales and growth targets.

Lynch dismissed the allegations and vehemently defended himself and his fellow workers at Autonomy against the claims.

“In respect of some aspects of the allegations, the Serious Fraud Office has concluded that, on the information available to it, there is insufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction,” the body said in a statement.

While the UK has ended its investigation a similar inquiry by US authorities is set to continue.

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com