Hewlett-Packard Company

On November 30, 2012, Bottini & Bottini, Inc. filed a shareholder derivative action against various current and former officers and directors of the Hewlett-Packard Company, as well as Deloitte LLP and KPMG LLP, alleging breaches of fiduciary duty and other wrongdoing associated with Hewlett-Packard's acquisition of Autonomy plc and false and misleading statements the defendants caused Hewlett-Packard to issue during the Relevant Time Period, which is defined as August 19, 2011 to the present. The complaint (a copy of which is attached below) alleges that the Individual Defendants, with assistance from the auditor defendants and other third parties, caused the Company to acquire two corporations in multi-billion dollar acquisitions (EDS and Autonomy) and to issue materially false and misleading statements about such acquisitions and about HP’s financial condition and future business prospects. Specifically, defendants misrepresented material facts regarding the Company’s acquisitions of EDS and Autonomy. The complaint alleges that when the truth was revealed, HP was forced to recognize massive charges exceeding $16 billion to reflect the impairment to the goodwill previously recognized by HP relating to these acquisitions. HP attempted to blame Autonomy and some of its own former officers and directors, including Leo Apotheker and Shane Robison, but as detailed in the complaint the current HP board also faces substantial liability for the wrongdoing. Indeed, numerous knowledgeable sources have stated that HP and its auditors failed to conduct adequate due diligence prior to paying $11.1 billion to acquire Autonomy. Moreover, prior to selling Autonomy to HP, Defendant Lynch (the founder and former CEO of Autonomy) and his bankers had pitched a sale of Autonomy to Oracle. Without doing any non-public due diligence, Oracle determined that Autonomy was substantially overvalued and declined to pursue an acquisition of the company.

The complaint seeks recovery of the substantial damages that HP has and will continue to suffer relating to defendants' wrongdoing.

If you are a HP shareholder and would like information about the case or your rights as a HP shareholder, please contact us.

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