Hewlett-Packard Co said it has already come to decisions on the best way to address the claims of securities fraud from shareholders for the company's writedown amounting to $8.8 billion because of its acquisition of Autonomy Plc, Reuters reported. However, the company says it needs six more weeks before it will decide on its legal course of action.
On September 6, US District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco gave Hewlett-Packard until Friday, January 17 to cast its vote on the recommendations provided by a committee of independent directors, the report said.
The committee's role was to advise the personal computer and printer company from Palo Alto, California if it should endeavor to have the claims lodged against some company executives dismissed or if should join the claims in an effort to get back its losses, the report said.
In a filing on Friday, Hewlett-Packard told the court that its board has evaluated the committee's recommendation and that it has arrived at decisions "with respect to the actions that it deems to be in the best interests of the company and its shareholders."
The company said it has agreed with the lawyers of the plaintiffs to postpone the lawsuit until February 28. It also said it will discuss the recommendations of the board with them anytime in from February 18 and 20, the report said.
The computer firm has claimed that paying $11.1 billion to acquire Autonomy in 2011 made it a victim to the deal. On November 2012, Hewlett-Packard took a writedown and alleged that former Autonomy Chief Executive Mike Lynch and other officials committed accounting fraud. Lynch has said that there was no truth to the allegations, the report said.
The acquisition has resulted to the departure of three directors of Hewlett-Packard, one of whom was Chairman Ray Lane. Regulators in the US and the UK also conducted criminal and civil investigations of the purchase.
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