HP To Spin Off Computer Biz, Buy Autonomy For $10 Billion

In a wild day for the markets, with the broader indexes off more than 4%, Hewlett-Packard Co. HPQ is finalizing a deal to purchase Autonomy for $10 billion, as well as spin off its personal-computer business. The reports first came from Bloomberg. According to people close to the situation, HP may announced the plans as early as today, in conjunction with its earnings release. It has been a tough time for CEO Leo Apotheker, as growth has slowed to a halt in the PC business, and the company is feverishly trying to expand into software and services. Software has higher margins than the PC business, which is notoriously low margin. Some have even gone so far as to speculate that Apotheker may regret taking the job from Mark Hurd. Hurd left after a scandal, and joined Oracle ORCL. At last check, shares of HP were off $1.11 to $30.28. After the headline broke, shares soared all the way up to $34.00, but have since come well off those levels.