Micro Focus becomes UK’s largest tech firm after £6.8bn HPE deal

HPE completed the spinoff of its software business today which has merged with British firm Micro Focus.

Micro Focus said the transaction was valued at $8.8 billion (£6.8bn) and claims that this makes it the world’s seventh largest pure-play software company. It also said it makes it the largest UK technology firm listed on the London Stock Exchange with a revenue of $4.4 billion (£3.4bn).

Chris Hsu, who was the executive VP and general manager of HPE, was appointed CEO of Microfocus. He said: “Today marks a significant milestone for Micro Focus, and I am honoured to be leading this team.”

 Hsu added: “We are bringing together a powerful combination of technology and talent uniquely positioned to drive customer-centered innovation at enterprise scale – enabling organizations to maximize the ROI of existing software investments while embracing the new hybrid model for enterprise IT.”

Micro Focus now aims to help customers “maximise existing software investments and embrace innovation in a world of Hybrid IT – from mainframe to mobile cloud”. It is a software company focused on building, selling and supporting software. Micro Focus has its UK headquarters in Newbury, Berkshire in the UK and in Maryland in the US.

In an interview with Reuters, Ric Lewis, senior VP of HPE’s cloud software group, said the company now aims to cater to customers running services both on premises and in the cloud.

HPE acquired British firm Autonomy for $11 billion in 2011 but the acquisition was called a “disaster”. The purchase of the software company was part of HP’s plan to transform itself into an enterprise software leader. A number of the senior management team left the company in its first year.

HP sued Autonomy founder Mike Lynch for $5.1 billion, claiming he had committed fraudulent activities. Lynch countersued in response for £100 million. According to Reuters, the ongoing legal case will remain the responsibility of HPE.