Hewlett-Packard (HP) is owed hundreds of millions, rather than billions, of pounds over its acquisition of British software company Autonomy in 2011, a High Court judge has ruled.The US firm was seeking to recoup up to £4bn of losses from Mike Lynch – the UK tech entrepreneur – in a damages lawsuit that found in HP’s favour in 2022.
Before a ruling on the sums involved on Tuesday, Mr Lynch tragically died along with his daughter Hannah and five others, when his yacht sank in a freak storm off the Italian coast last August.Money latest: Economists issue warning as government borrowing soarsThey had been on the vessel celebrating his acquittal in a US fraud case related to the sale of the software firm to HP.
HP brought the High Court case after it significantly wrote down Autonomy’s value by £5.5bn soon after it completed the £8.3bn acquisition, claiming it had been deliberately overstated.
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Mike and Hannah Lynch
Mr Lynch had intended to appeal the judgment before his tragic death.Mr Justice Hildyard ruled that HP suffered losses amounting to £697,876,753, some of which is set to be paid by Mr Lynch’s estate.He also ruled that Mr Lynch’s estate was liable to pay part of around £35m in damages – with some of that sum due to be paid by Sushovan Hussain, Autonomy’s former chief financial officer, who was also sued by HP.
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Mr Hussain has previously settled HP’s claim but could still be required to pay damages.A further hearing to deal with matters including interest, currency conversion and whether Mr Lynch’s estate can appeal against the decision is set to be held in November.Read more:Mike Lynch died from drowning, inquest hearsHow search for Mike Lynch unfolded after yacht sank
Handing down his ruling, Mr Justice Hildyard expressed his “great sympathy” for Mr Lynch’s family, calling his death a “tragedy”.He said: “It is a source of anxiety to me that I have to deliver a judgment that will inevitably cause further stress on those involved.”In the 197-page ruling, he said he considered that HP’s claim “was always substantially exaggerated” and that the £4bn figure claimed “was not based on detailed analysis”.
