Hewlett-Packard has secured enough shares of Autonomy to take control of the U.K. software company, HP announced Monday.
Shareholders owning 87% of Autonomy’s stock have accepted HP’s offer to purchase the company for £25.50 per share, or about US$10.3 billion, HP said in a regulatory filing.
“As such, all conditions relating to the offer have now been satisfied, allowing HP to acquire control of Autonomy,” HP said.
HP announced plans to buy Autonomy last month, on the same day it said it would scrap its TouchPad development and consider spinning off its PC business.
The deal, engineered by former CEO Leo Apotheker, was a controversial one, with some saying HP offered too high a price. HP has since appointed a new CEO, former eBay chief Meg Whitman, who has stood behind the deal.
Autonomy is the U.K.’s largest independent software vendor, according to reports. It makes a broad range of information management products, including software that searches through company documents for compliance and archiving purposes.
It also operates a public cloud that stores petabytes of corporate data. Earlier this year, IDC said Autonomy was one of the fastest-growing search and discovery vendors.
HP said the deal will strengthen its data analytics, cloud and workflow management offerings, and help its customers manage ever-increasing volumes of data. Autonomy will operate as a separate business unit, let by founder and CEO Mike Lynch, who will report to Whitman.
While HP now has control of the company, it said it would leave its offer open “until further notice” so that further stockholders can offer their shares.
