HPE to pursue up to $4bn from Mike Lynch estate - reports

2nd Sep 2024 15:10

(Sharecast News) - Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) will continue its pursuit of up to $4bn in damages from the estate of the late Autonomy founder Mike Lynch, it emerged on Monday, despite his recent death.

The development, reported by Fortune, was the latest chapter in a 13-year legal battle stemming from HP's troubled $11.7bn acquisition of Autonomy in 2011, which resulted in an $8.8bn write-down due to alleged accounting fraud.

In 2022, HPE won a civil trial in the UK against Lynch, with the court ruling that he was likely aware of accounting irregularities at Autonomy.

Although Lynch was acquitted of related criminal charges in the US earlier this year, he intended to appeal the civil ruling based on this verdict.

However, Lynch passed away in August in the sinking of superyacht Bayesian in poor weather off the coast of Sicily, leaving his wife Angela Bacares to potentially inherit the ongoing legal battle.

Despite speculation that HPE could drop the case to avoid negative publicity, Fortune said the company had decided to proceed.

A damages hearing took place in February, and a final judgement was expected soon.

While the court indicated that the damages would likely be less than the $4bn initially sought, HPE was reportedly committed to seeing the case through, citing its fiduciary duty to shareholders.

Lynch's estate, including his venture capital fund Invoke Capital and a 3% stake in cybersecurity firm Darktrace, was unlikely to meet the full amount of HPE's claim.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.