Assets which were owned by UK software group Autonomy are set to be back in British ownership after it emerged that Micro Focus plans to buy a chunk of Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s software business in a multi-billion pound deal.
Hewlett Packard bought the assets as part of its takeover of Autonomy in 2011. The deal, largely regarded as one of the worst on record, led to the break-up of HP as well as ongoing litigation between the two companies.
Now, London-listed Micro Focus is understood to have agreed to pay more than $8bn (£6bn) for the software business of Hewlett Packard Enterprise, which split from PC-maker Hewlett Packard list year. The division makes software to help manage business operations.
Micro Focus, which has a market value of around £4.45bn, is also said to have agreed to a deal under which HPE will become a major shareholder in the business.
The deal, which was first reported by Sky News, is expected to be announced before the stock exchange opens tomorrow morning. It will be one of the largest takeovers by a British company in recent years.
Micro Focus secured shareholder approval at its most recent annual meeting to pursue large acquisitions, after it successfully completed a $1.2bn (£900m) takeover of business software group Attachmate in 2014, and bought Serena Software earlier this year for $540m (£405m) after raising money through a shareholder placing.
Micro Focus declined to comment. HPE could not be reached for comment.
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