HP Retools, to Acquire Autonomy in $11B Deal

In a busy news day for Hewlett Packard (HPQ) the company released several news items surrounding company transformations designed to sharpen its focus on the enterprise IT market.

HP reported third quarter 2011 results with net revenue up 1 percent from last year at $31.2 billion. It was also announced that it would be shutting down operations for webOS devices - including the just-released TouchPad tablet - and exploring strategic alternatives for webOS software. HP also announced that it is evaluating strategic alternatives for its Personal Systems Group, including the possibility of separating its PC business into a separate company through a spin-off or other transaction. This board-approved direction comes as they implement a plan to fundamentally transform the company.

"In March we outlined a strategy for HP, built on cloud, solutions and software to address the changing requirements of our customers, shaped heavily by secular market trends that are redefining how technology is consumed and deployed. Since then, we have observed the acceleration of these market trends, which has led us to evaluate additional steps to transform HP to meet emerging opportunities," said Leo Apotheker, HP president and CEO.

As another part of this transformation, HP announced plans to acquire UK software company Autonomy (LSE: AU or AU.L) for $42.11 per share in cash. The companies said that offer values Autonomy at about $11.7 billion on a fully diluted basis. Cambridge-based Autonomy is a global leader in infrastructure software for the enterprise and boasts over 25,000 global companies as customers.