Autonomy Former CEO Sues H-P for More Than $150 Million

The long-running court battle between Hewlett-Packard Co. and former executives of Autonomy Corp. rages on.

On Thursday, Autonomy's former CEO Michael Lynch filed a countersuit against H-P for more than $150 million in damages.

In March, H-P sued Mr. Lynch and his top financial executive, Sushovan Hussain, for $5.1 billion, claiming they willfully inflated the British software maker's finances ahead of the deal.

The Autonomy acquisition proved to be a disaster for H-P. Less than a year after the 2011 acquisition, the company took an $8.8 billion write-down on the deal.

In his countersuit in the High Court of Justice Chancery Division in London, Mr. Lynch put the blame squarely on H-P's management. "HP mismanaged the integration and failed to implement many of the key decisions made pre-acquisition," stated Mr. Lynch's counterclaim.

In a statement, Mr. Lynch argued that H-P's subsequent portrayal of the deal has been "highly damaging to me and misleading to the stock market."

Mr. Hussain, who isn't a party to Mr. Lynch's legal action, wasn't immediately available for comment.

In court filings, H-P said that Autonomy engaged in a number of improper business practices to inflate its finances, including suspicious software licensing and data-hosting deals. Messrs. Lynch and Hussain have denied these claims.

"Mike Lynch's lawsuit is a laughable and desperate attempt to divert attention from the $5 billion lawsuit HP has filed and the ongoing criminal investigation," H-P said in a statement. "HP anxiously looks forward to the day Lynch and Hussain will be forced to answer for their actions in court."

In January, the U.K.'s Serious Fraud Office closed a two-year investigation into Autonomy, citing a lack of evidence. A U.S. probe is continuing.

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 01, 2015 14:55 ET (18:55 GMT)

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