Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) Seeks Software Unit Sale

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Hewlett Packard EnterpriseHewlett Packard Enterprise Co (NYSE:HPE) is looking to sell off its software division.

The tech company announced that it is looking for potential buyers to acquire its software business for about $8 billion to $10 billion. A number of private equity firms are believed to be interested, with Thoma Bravo leading the charge as the highest bidder at the moment.

The move comes following the controversial purchase of Autonomy in 2011, which Hewlett Packard shelled out $8.8 billion for the company. Autonomy is a software company from the UK that cost HP $8.8 billion due to accounting improprieties by the former.

The acquisition occurred before HP split itself up into two companies in an $8.5 billion spinoff deal that took place in May. Autonomy’s former management denied these allegations and battled them, but Hewlett Packard still ended up being in the hook for the move in 2012.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise netted $3.6 billion in revenue for its software unit in its most recent fiscal year, which is an 8% decline on a year-over-year basis.The company has been making moves lately, including the August acquisition of Silicon Graphics for $275 million, or a 29% premium of the company’s stock value of $7.75 at the time.

Following the sale of its software business, Hewlett Packard Enterprise would turn its focus on its other branches, including its server segment, as well as networking, storage, business critical systems and technology services.

HPE stock is down 0.3% Friday.

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Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2016/09/hewlett-packard-enterprise-hpe-2/.

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