HP in £7.1bn deal for UK software firm

A UK technology company set up in 1996 is to be taken over by Hewlett-Packard in a £7.1bn deal that will net its founder more than £500m.

Cambridge-based Autonomy, which employs around 2,700 people in the UK and US, supplies software for searching unstructured information such as emails and text messages. Clients include Procter & Gamble, Nestle and Shell.