Former Hewlett-Packard boss Leo Apotheker did not read most recent financial results ahead of £8.4bn Autonomy deal

Former Hewlett-Packard (HP) chief executive Leo Apotheker did not read Autonomy’s half-year or quarterly results ahead of buying the software firm for £8.4bn in 2011, a court heard today.

Apotheker, who was giving evidence to the High Court, admitted he had not read the firm’s April 2011 quarterly update or July’s half-year results, but had studied the company’s annual report for the year to the end of December 2010.

Read more: Lynch blames HP for 'botched' Autonomy deal in $5bn fraud trial

HP is suing Autonomy’s founder Mike Lynch and former chief financial officer (CFO) Sushovan Hussain for $5.1bn, alleging that they falsely inflated Autonomy’s revenue figures ahead of the acquisition.

Robert Miles QC, cross-examining the witness for the defence, said HP was only interested in the software firm’s potential synergies, not it’s standalone financial performance, or Apotheker had been negligent.

Miles said: “Either the results weren’t important to you, or the other alternative is that you were grossly negligent.”

“It is extraordinary that you were looking at buying a company for $11bn and you didn’t even bother to read the most recent results,” he added.

During the heated exchange Apotheker said: “There are people inside HP who do a very good job and keep me informed. I’m sure if it was something of extreme relevance I would have been told.”

The former chief executive was sacked following the deal’s announcement, and replaced by Meg Whitman who attempted to refocus the company on its core hardware business.

Read more: Autonomy founder 'inflated sales before HP deal'

Apotheker and chief strategy and technology officer Shane Robison, who also left the company shortly after the announcement, had been the “architects” of the deal, the court was told last week.

Apotheker will continue giving evidence tomorrow.