Hewlett-Packard, the world’s top personal computer maker, has announced it is exploring a spinoff of its PC unit in a historic shift away from the consumer market.
In line with a strategic realignment towards software and solutions for businesses, the Palo Alto, California-based HP also announced it was buying British enterprise software company Autonomy for $10.24 billion.
HP said it will purchase all of the outstanding shares of Autonomy for $42.11 per share in cash, a premium of 64 per cent over Autonomy’s closing price on the London Stock Exchange the day before the announcement.
It said the deal had been unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies and should be completed by the end of the year.
In a further move away from the consumer space, HP said that it was stopping production of its TouchPad tablet computer, its rival to Apple’s iPad which was introduced just seven weeks ago, and phones based on the webOS mobile operating system acquired from Palm last year for $1.2 billion.
HP’s low-margin PC business has been the subject of separation rumors for months and HP shares have slumped this year amid investor concerns that the company is being overtaken by younger, nimbler Asian rivals.
Leo Apotheker, a former top executive of German business software giant SAP who took over as HP’s chief executive in November, said the moves were part of a “transformation to position HP for a new future.”
“The transformation starts today,” Apotheker told financial analysts.
Explaining the decision to sell or spin off the PC business within the next 12 to 18 months, the HP CEO said the weak economy was having an impact on PC sales but there is also a “clear secular movement in the consumer PC space.”
“Consumers are changing their use of the PC,” Apotheker said. “The tablet effect is real and sales of the TouchPad are not meeting our expectations.”
“For our PC business to remain the world’s largest personal computing business it needs the flexibility and agility to make decisions best for its future direction,” he said.
The PC market has been flat amid an explosion of powerful smartphones and the arrival of hot-selling tablets such as the iPad.
Apotheker said HP was mulling various options for the webOS software acquired from Palm including licensing the platform for use by third-party manufacturers.
While separating from its PC unit, Apotheker said HP intended to retain its profitable printing business which has significant commercial applications.