Spokesperson for Mike Lynch notes H-P conducted intensive due diligence as part of takeover of Autonomy.
The former management of software company Autonomy rejects allegations made by current owner Hewlett-Packard Co. that they misrepresented the British company’s performance when negotiating its takeover by the U.S. giant, a spokesperson for Autonomy founder Mike Lynch said Tuesday.
In a written statement, the spokesperson said “the former management team of Autonomy was shocked to see this statement…and flatly rejects these allegations, which are false.”
H-P, of Palo Alto, Calif., said Tuesday it would take an $8.8 billion write-down, after finding “serious accounting improprieties, disclosure failures and outright misrepresentations” at Autonomy that occurred prior to H-P’s acquisition of the firm. H-P acquired Autonomy last year for more than $10 billion.
The spokesperson for Mike Lynch pointed out that H-P had conducted intensive due diligence as part of its takeover of Autonomy and H-P’s senior management has been closely involved with running the software maker for the past year since the acquisition.
“It took 10 years to build Autonomy’s industry-leading technology and it is sad to see how it has been mismanaged since its acquisition by H-P,” the spokesperson said.
Mike Lynch joined H-P when it acquired Autonomy, but left the company earlier this year.