Autonomy gives HP green light October 3, 2011 HEWLETT-PACKARD last night completed its $12bn (£7.77bn) buy of British software firm Autonomy, the centrepiece of a botched strategy shift that cost ex-chief executive Leo Apotheker his job last month. HP said its £25.50-per-share cash offer had been accepted by investors representing 87.34 per cent of the company’s shares, well ahead of the 75 per [...]
Autonomy boss in spat with US rival September 29, 2011 MIKE Lynch, chief executive of soon-to-be-sold Autonomy, has been drawn into a bitter war of words with rival technology boss Larry Ellison. The Oracle chief accused Lynch of having a “very poor memory or lying” about a personal visit he allegedly made to Oracle’s headquarters to try to pitch Autonomy as a takeover target. Lynch [...]
PRINCESS LAUNCHES OUR APPEAL FOR AFRICA September 29, 2011 CITY LEADERS met royalty at The Savoy on Tuesday night, at a dinner to mark a new partnership between City A.M. and an African microfinance charity that aims to improve the lives of thousands. Guest of honour was HRH The Princess Royal, a patron of the Opportunity International (OI) charity, who told guests including Vallares [...]
PRINCESS LAUNCHES OUR APPEAL FOR AFRICA September 28, 2011 CITY LEADERS met royalty at The Savoy on Tuesday night, at a dinner to mark a new partnership between City A.M. and an African microfinance charity that aims to improve the lives of thousands. Guest of honour was HRH The Princess Royal, a patron of the Opportunity International (OI) charity, who told guests including Vallares [...]
FTSE commodities drop on fear over Fed announcement September 21, 2011 BRITAIN’S top shares dropped back yesterday, led by weakness in commodity issues as investors nervously awaited the outcome of a US Federal Reserve meeting with expectations for further economic stimulus seen as already discounted. The FTSE 100 closed down 75.30 points, or 1.4 per cent at 5,288.41, retreating after a two per cent bounce on [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS August 30, 2011 HSBC Private Bank HSBC Private Bank has appointed Katharine Brace as associate director on the media and entertainment team. Brace, who will report to Nick Price, managing director and global head of the media and entertainment group, joins from Barclays Wealth, where she was a vice president in the sports, media and entertainment team. Prior [...]
Success of Autonomy is all too rare August 22, 2011 AS success stories go, the tale of Autonomy has everything. Its chief executive, Dr Mike Lynch, began work on the mathematical formulas that underpin the firm’s software in the early 1990s, when he was completing a postdoctoral thesis at Cambridge University. In 1996, he founded Autonomy as a tiny startup, and spent the next four [...]
BILL OF THE WEEK August 21, 2011 ENTRY to the One For One nightclub on Park Lane is by invitation only, so what goes on tour in the darkened corners of the Mayfair den usually stays on tour. Except, owing to the fondness of its jetset members for spending large amounts of money on top-end champagne, reports of high-rolling activity occasionally filter [...]
HP to pay £6bn for Autonomy August 18, 2011 HEWLETT-PACKARD is buying the UK’s most valuable software company Autonomy for $10.2bn (£6.2bn), in the latest takeover of a major British company by an American firm. The deal was announced last night as HP unveiled its third quarter earnings and is part of a massive shake-up at the US computing giant, which is also exploring [...]
Autonomy beats forecasts as it plans to spin off its Aurasma unit July 27, 2011 AUTONOMY beat market forecasts yesterday to deliver a 16 per cent jump in quarterly sales, sending its shares up more than four per cent. Its pre-tax profits hit £125m, ahead of a consensus target of £117m. A strong performance in its high-margin cloud computing arm was the main driver, with revenues rising 37 per cent [...]