TAKEOVER TROUBLES

AUTONOMY was a software company founded in Cambridge in 1996.

It went public two years later and was bought by Hewlett-Packard in 2011 for £7.1bn. But HP subsequently wrote down £5bn from the company’s value, accusing its former management team of fraud. Mike Lynch, Autonomy’s former chief executive and co-founder, has denied the claims, which are part of ongoing legal battles.

In September 2016, Micro Focus bought Hewlett Packard Enterprise from HP, which included the Autonomy arm, for £6.6bn. Critics warned investors could not be sure Micro Focus was not buying toxic assets. The deal completed a year later, making Micro Focus the biggest tech firm in the UK.