Wachtell to pursue Deloitte in HP Autonomy row
Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz is to pursue Deloitte on behalf of Hewlett-Packard (HP) in an escalation of the company’s row with software firm Autonomy over its doomed 2011 acquisition.
Wachtell partner Marc Wolinsky told a San Francisco court on Monday that the company would sue Deloitte over its auditing of Autonomy’s accounts prior to its $11.1bn takeover by HP, which led to an $8.8bn write-down.
Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd and Cotchett Pitre & McCarthy were to receive $18m (£10.8m) in fees over 32 months to sue Autonomy’s founder and finance director instead of HP, with a $30m success payout.
An HP spokesperson said: “We will continue to work to have the derivative actions settled or dismissed and to hold the former executives of Autonomy as well as Autonomy’s auditor, Deloitte UK, responsible for the wrongdoing that occurred.”
Deloitte has previously turned to Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer partner Andrew Hart. It is not known if Hart has been instructed for the potential court claim brought against the company.
A spokesperson for Deloitte UK said: “HP has apparently indicated that it intends to pursue a claim against Deloitte UK. Any possible claim would be utterly without merit and we will defend ourselves strongly against it.
Source: thelawyer
