HPQ-Autonomy saga continues....
HPQ 2011 $29, 2012 $11, this year $41.10 high
Would think some of this crew would have borne some blame/culpability/jail time.....
"Barclays Capital and Perella Weinberg are advising HP, while Qatalyst Partners, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Merrill Lynch, UBS and JPMorgan Chase are advising Autonomy"
Not to mention, the accounting firms for BOTH parties...
What a world we inhabit.
============================== | H-P Clears Hurdle in Shareholder Lawsuit Over Autonomy Deal | By Shira Ovide
A U.S. District Judge agreed Friday to approve preliminarily a settlement in a lawsuit by Hewlett-Packard Co. shareholders over the company's acquisition of U.K. software firm Autonomy.
H-P has been trying for nearly a year to settle the litigation filed by a handful of its shareholders, who said H-P's now chief executive, Meg Whitman, and other current and former company officials failed to heed warning signs about problems with Autonomy's business. Ms. Whitman was a board member at the time of the deal. H-P acquired the software firm in 2011 for more than $11 billion, and a year later it took an $8.8 billion write-down on the deal.
In a court filing Friday, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco said he would consider final approval of the settlement in a July hearing. Reuters reported the preliminary approval earlier Friday.
If approved, the settlement would bolster H-P's effort to move past a deal that has caused major headaches for the company. Ms. Whitman in 2012 said H-P was duped into overpaying for Autonomy by what she characterized as apparently willfully inflated financial statements at the U.K. software firm. Autonomy's former CEO has repeatedly denied accusations of improper accounting.
H-P had tried previously to put to rest the litigation first filed in 2012. Judge Breyer balked last year at one potential settlement, in part over what could have been a large financial windfall for attorneys representing the shareholder plaintiffs. In December, the judge said a revised settlement improperly protected H-P directors, officials and professional firms from a wide swath of potential future shareholder litigation.
This time, Judge Breyer gave the green light to a revised settlement that would limit prohibitions on future shareholder litigation and extend policy changes in how H-P considers future acquisitions.
The settlement terms don't call for the defendants to pay any money.
"We are pleased with the Court's decision to grant preliminary approval and look forward to the final hearing on July 24," an H-P spokeswoman said.
"The parties were able to negotiate a resolution that will benefit H-P and its shareholders now and in the future, as H-P implements the reforms to its acquisition policies," said an attorney representing the lead shareholder plaintiff in the case.
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PS,
Sure it's not over, will be follow-on suits, most likely.
As per usual, the law dogs will make out like bandits.
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