Close
  • Latest News
  • Cybersecurity
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Mobile
  • Networking
  • Storage
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Menu
eWEEK.com
Search
eWEEK.com
  • Latest News
  • Cybersecurity
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Mobile
  • Networking
  • Storage
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Applications
    • Applications

    HPE Reportedly in Talks With Investment Firm to Sell Software Unit

    By
    JEFF BURT
    -
    September 1, 2016
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin
      HPE building

      Hewlett Packard Enterprise officials reportedly are negotiating with investment firm Thoma Bravo to sell its software business, the latest step in an ongoing story that started earlier this summer.

      According to a Reuters report citing unnamed sources, Thoma Bravo is one of several private equity firms to make bids on HPE’s software assets, coming in with the highest offer—between $8 billion and $10 billion. No deal has been finalized, and the sources said Thoma Bravo may end up buying only some of the assets or none at all.

      The latest report follows several others over the past few months that indicated HPE CEO Meg Whitman was interested in selling the software unit—which includes the Autonomy, Vertica and Mercury Interactive—as part of a larger effort to restructure the company to focus on such areas as data center infrastructure and the cloud.

      The report also comes the same week as HPE’s Big Data Conference in Boston, where company officials unveiled new features and extended cloud platform support in the latest version of the Vertica analytics software.

      HPE officials continue to remake the company as it looks to thrive in an increasingly digital world driven by such trends as the cloud, data analytics, the internet of things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, virtualization and software-defined data centers. HPE was created in November 2015 when Hewlett-Packard broke in two. HPE develops enterprise IT solutions, while HP Inc. sells PCs and printers.

      Since then, HPE executives in May announced plans to spin out the company’s enterprise services business as a separate entity and merge it with Computer Sciences Corp. (CSC). They said the deal—which is set to be completed by March 2017—will bring in $8.5 billion to HPE and will enable the company to keep its hand in services but reduce the business costs associated with it.

      Now the company reportedly is looking to move its software business, which in HPE’s fiscal second quarter saw most of its year-over-year numbers decline: Revenue fell 13 percent, licensing was down 12 percent and support sales dropped 16 percent.

      The Autonomy business came in 2011 when HP bought it for about $11 billion in a highly controversial deal that led to lawsuits and countersuits over the accounting practices at Autonomy in the time leading up to the acquisition. Vertica was bought that same year for its data analytics software. HP spent $4.5 billion in 2006 for Mercury Interactive and its tools for measuring the performance of customers’ software.

      According to the Reuters report, HPE has received offers from a number of private equity firms—including Vista Equity Partners Management, Carlyle Group and TPG Capital—for as much as $7.5 billion. The sources said that selling the entire software group to a single buyer would be made easier if the buyer already owns other tech companies. In Thoma Bravo’s case, the firm has invested in or bought a number of tech companies, including Riverbed Technology, Blue Coat Systems, Compuware, DigiCert, Dynatrace and LANDesk.

      Officials with HPE, Thoma Bravo and other firms have not commented on the report.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Android

      Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro: Durability for Tough...

      CHRIS PREIMESBERGER - December 5, 2020 0
      Have you ever dropped your phone, winced and felt the pain as it hit the sidewalk? Either the screen splintered like a windshield being...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Why Data Security Will Face Even Harsher...

      CHRIS PREIMESBERGER - December 1, 2020 0
      Who would know more about details of the hacking process than an actual former career hacker? And who wants to understand all they can...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      How Veritas Is Shining a Light Into...

      EWEEK EDITORS - September 25, 2020 0
      Protecting data has always been one of the most important tasks in all of IT, yet as more companies become data companies at the...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      How NVIDIA A100 Station Brings Data Center...

      ZEUS KERRAVALA - November 18, 2020 0
      There’s little debate that graphics processor unit manufacturer NVIDIA is the de facto standard when it comes to providing silicon to power machine learning...
      Read more
      Apple

      Why iPhone 12 Pro Makes Sense for...

      WAYNE RASH - November 26, 2020 0
      If you’ve been watching the Apple commercials for the past three weeks, you already know what the company thinks will happen if you buy...
      Read more
      eWeek


      Contact Us | About | Sitemap

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      Terms of Service | Privacy Notice | Advertise | California - Do Not Sell My Info

      © 2020 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×