HP has announced that its board of directors has authorized the evaluation of strategic alternatives for its Personal Systems Group (PSG), including the exploration of the separation of its PC business into a separate company through a spin-off or other transaction.

PSG has a history of innovation and technological leadership as well as a strong operating track record and industry-leading profitability. PSG is the leading manufacturer of personal computers in the world and had annual revenues of approximately $41 billion in fiscal year 2010. PSG enjoys leading global market positions in consumer and commercial PCs.

HP is implementing a plan to fundamentally transform the company. An important component of the plan is focusing its investments, resources and management attention to drive higher value solutions to enterprise, small, and midsize business and public sector customers. HP believes that the exploration of alternatives for PSG will help the company accomplish its strategic goals and pursue profitable growth and enhanced shareholder value. A post-transaction HP would continue to help its customers manage the information explosion and address their most critical needs through a portfolio that spans printing, software, services, servers, storage and networking.

“The exploration of alternatives for PSG demonstrates our commitment to enhancing shareholder value and sharpening our strategic and financial focus,” said Léo Apotheker, HP president and chief executive officer. “In March we outlined a strategy for HP, built on cloud, solutions and software to address the changing requirements of our customers, shaped heavily by secular market trends that are redefining how technology is consumed and deployed. Since then, we have observed the acceleration of these market trends, which has led us to evaluate additional steps to transform HP to meet emerging opportunities. We believe the acquisition of Autonomy, combined with the exploration of alternatives for PSG, would allow HP to more effectively compete and better execute its focused strategy.”

The personal computing market is quickly evolving with new form factors and application ecosystems. Given these realities, HP believes it is in the best interests of the company and its shareholders to explore ways for PSG to position itself to address these rapid changes and maintain its technological and market leadership positions.

“We believe exploring alternatives for PSG could enhance its performance, allow it to more effectively compete and provide greater value for HP shareholders,” said Apotheker. “PSG is a world-class scale business with a leading market share position and a highly effective supply chain and broad reach and go-to-market capabilities. We believe there are alternatives that could afford PSG more autonomy and flexibility to make strategic investment decisions to better position the business for its customers, partners and employees.”

Next steps

HP management, together with its financial and legal advisers, will explore strategic alternatives, including the exploration of the separation of its PC business into a separate company through a spin-off or other transaction that would likely be tax free to U.S. shareholders. HP expects that the process could be completed within approximately 12-18 months.

There can be no assurance that any transaction regarding PSG will be pursued or completed, the company says. The company does not intend to disclose developments with respect to the progress of its strategic alternatives review process until such time as the HP board of directors approves or completes a transaction or otherwise determines that further disclosure is appropriate.

Apotheker added, “As we explore alternatives for PSG, we will be focused on a path that not only enhances value for HP shareholders but also provides greater opportunities for our people, businesses, partners and customers. While this process is underway, we will remain focused on operating our businesses. The strength of PSG is a testament to our world-class team of employees and reflects their commitment to innovation and customers and partners.”

Ending Support of webOS Devices, Including Tablets

HP will consider a broad range of options that may include, among others, a full or partial separation of PSG from HP through a spin-off or other transaction.

In addition, HP reported that it plans to announce that it will discontinue operations for webOS devices, specifically the TouchPad and webOS phones. HP will continue to explore options to optimize the value of webOS software going forward.

HP also announced preliminary results for the third fiscal quarter 2011, with revenue of $31.2 billion compared with $30.7 billion one year ago.

In the third quarter, preliminary GAAP diluted earnings per share (EPS) was $0.93 and non-GAAP diluted EPS was $1.10, compared with third quarter fiscal 2010 GAAP diluted EPS of $0.75 and non-GAAP diluted EPS of $1.08. Non-GAAP diluted EPS estimates exclude after-tax costs related primarily to the amortization of purchased intangible assets of approximately $0.17 per share and $0.33 per share in the third quarter of fiscal 2011 and fiscal 2010, respectively.

For the fourth fiscal quarter of 2011, HP estimates revenue of approximately $32.1 billion to $32.5 billion, GAAP diluted EPS in the range of $0.44 to $0.55, and non-GAAP diluted EPS in the range of $1.12 to $1.16. Non-GAAP diluted EPS guidance excludes after-tax costs of approximately $0.61 to $0.68 per share, related primarily to restructuring and shutdown costs associated with webOS devices, the amortization and impairment of purchased intangibles, restructuring charges and acquisition-related charges.

HP estimates full-year FY11 revenue will be approximately $127.2 billion to $127.6 billion, down from its previous estimate of $129 billion to $130 billion. FY11 GAAP diluted EPS is expected to be in the range of $3.59 to $3.70, down from its previous estimate of at least $4.27, and FY11 non-GAAP diluted EPS is expected to be in the range of $4.82 to $4.86, down from its previous estimate of at least $5.00. FY11 non-GAAP diluted EPS estimates exclude after-tax costs of approximately $1.16 to 1.23 per share, related primarily to restructuring and shutdown costs associated with webOS devices, the amortization and impairment of purchased intangibles, restructuring charges and acquisition-related charges.

HP to Acquire Autonomy Corp.

HP and Autonomy Corp. announced the terms of a recommended transaction under which HP (through an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary, HP SPV) will acquire all of the outstanding shares of Autonomy for  $42.11 (£25.50) per share in cash. The transaction was unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both HP and Autonomy. The Autonomy board of directors also has unanimously recommended its shareholders accept the Offer.

Based on the closing stock price of Autonomy on August 17, 2011, the consideration represents a one day premium to Autonomy shareholders of approximately 64 percent and a premium of approximately 58 percent to Autonomy’s prior one month average closing price. The transaction will be implemented by way of a takeover offer extended to all shareholders of Autonomy. The acquisition of Autonomy is expected to be completed by the end of calendar 2011.

Founded in 1996, Autonomy is a global leader in infrastructure software for the enterprise with a customer base of more than 25,000 global companies, law firms and public sector agencies, and approximately 2,700 employees worldwide. Autonomy’s Intelligent Data Operating Layer (IDOL) platform allows computers to harness the richness of information, forming a conceptual and contextual understanding of any piece of electronic data, including unstructured information, such as text, email, web pages, voice and video.

Autonomy’s software powers a full spectrum of mission-critical enterprise applications, including pan-enterprise search, customer interaction solutions, information governance, end-to-end eDiscovery, records management, archiving, business process management, web content management, web optimization, rich media management and video and audio analysis. Autonomy’s IDOL is the de-facto standard among more than 400 OEMs, supported by substantial intellectual property, and Autonomy is a significant cloud player with over 30 petabytes of customer information under management. Autonomy’s recent operating and financial performance has been strong, including its most recent results for the quarter ending June 30, 2011. Over the last five years, Autonomy has grown its revenues at a compound annual growth rate of approximately 55 percent and adjusted operating profit at a rate of approximately 83 percent.

“Autonomy presents an opportunity to accelerate our strategic vision to decisively and profitably lead a large and growing space,” said Apotheker. "Autonomy brings to HP higher value business solutions that will help customers manage the explosion of information. Together with Autonomy, we plan to reinvent how both unstructured and structured data is processed, analyzed, optimized, automated and protected. Autonomy has an attractive business model, including a strong cloud based solution set, which is aligned with HP’s efforts to improve our portfolio mix. We believe this bold action will squarely position HP in software and information to create the next-generation Information Platform, and thereby, create significant value for our shareholders.”

Apotheker continued, “Autonomy is a highly profitable and globally respected software company, with a well-regarded management team and talented, dedicated employees. We look forward to partnering with a company who shares our commitment to solving customer problems by creating smart, cutting-edge products and solutions. I am particularly pleased that Dr. Mike Lynch, who heads a team of brilliant scientists and employees, will continue to lead Autonomy. I look forward to our collaboration as we focus on creating maximum value for the combined company, its customers and employees.”

“This is a momentous day in Autonomy’s history,” said Lynch, chief executive officer and founder, Autonomy. “From our foundation in 1996, we have been driven by one shared vision: to fundamentally change the IT industry by revolutionizing the way people interact with information. HP shares this vision and provides Autonomy with the platform to bring our world-leading technology and innovation to a truly global stage, making the shift to a future age of the information economy a reality.”

Strategic and financial benefits

The result of the Autonomy acquisition is expected to be the following:

• Positions HP as leader in large and growing space: Autonomy has a strong position in the $20 billion enterprise information management space, which is growing at 8 percent annually and is uniquely positioned to continue growth within this space. Furthermore, key Autonomy assets would provide HP with the ability to reinvent the $55 billion business analytics software and services space, which is growing at 8 percent annually.
• Complements HP’s existing technology portfolio and enterprise strategy: Autonomy offers solutions that are synergistic across HP’s enterprise offerings and strengthens capabilities for data analytics, the cloud, industry capabilities and workflow management. This will bolster HP’s cloud offerings with key assets for information management and data analytics. Autonomy also complements existing HP offerings from enterprise servers, storage, networking, software, services and its Imaging and Printing Group (IPG).
• Provides differentiated IP for services and extensive vertical capabilities in key industries: Acquiring Autonomy would provide differentiated IP for services, including extensive vertical capabilities in key industries such as government, financial services, legal, pharmaceutical and healthcare.
• Provides IPG a base for content management platforms: Autonomy provides HP with a content management platform and accelerates a major component of the IPG enterprise strategy to continue its growth of document and content management and higher value commercial printing opportunities.
• Enhances HP’s financial profile: Autonomy’s strong growth and profit margin profile complements HP’s efforts to improve its business mix by focusing on enterprise software and solutions. Autonomy has a consistent track record of double-digit revenue growth, with 87 percent gross margins and 43 percent operating margins in calendar year 2010.⁽²⁾

Accretive to HP’s earnings: HP expects the acquisition to be accretive to non-GAAP earnings per share for HP shareholders in the first full year following completion.⁽³⁾

Lynch will continue to lead Autonomy and will report to Apotheker. Following the acquisition, Autonomy will operate separately.

The Offer documents related to the transaction are available at www.hp.com/investor/offerdocuments. The Offer will be subject to the conditions and further terms set out in the offer documents. HP intends to finance the transaction through offshore cash and debt financing.

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⁽¹⁾ This statement regarding earnings enhancement is not intended to be a profit forecast and should not be interpreted to mean that the earnings per HP share, or of the combined group, for the current or future financial periods will necessarily be greater than those for the relevant preceding financial period.

⁽²⁾ Autonomy non-IFRS adjusted numbers, which exclude the effect of certain specific, nonrecurring and non-cash charges.

⁽³⁾ This statement regarding earnings enhancement is not intended to be a profit forecast and should not be interpreted to mean that the earnings per HP share, or of the combined group, for the current or future financial periods will necessarily be greater than those for the relevant preceding financial period.