Reports: HP Set To Reach Settlement With Shareholders On Autonomy Deal

(RTTNews) - Technology giant Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) is set to reach a settlement with attorneys representing its shareholders lawsuit related to the its troubled $11.1 billion take over of British software company Autonomy Corp. in 2011, according to media reports on Friday. The settlement is expected to be announced as early as Monday.

A settlement will resolve three shareholder lawsuits filed on behalf of the company. It will see the dropping of all claims against HP's former and current management team, including CEO Meg Whitman, as well as board members and advisers.

Meanwhile, the attorneys will in turn assist HP in pursuing claims against former Autonomy executives, including its Co-Founder and CEO Michael Lynch, and CFO Sushovan Hussain.

Autonomy is charged of willfully inflating its financial statements to extract a better deal from HP, while it has continued to deny the charges of serious accounting improprieties, misrepresentation and disclosure failures.

Meanwhile, HP has been charged by shareholders of not scrutinizing Autonomy's financial statements properly. HP had incurred a hefty charge of $8.8 billion in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012 related to the deal.

HPQ closed Friday's regular trading session at $33.91, unchanged on a volume of 9.12 million shares.