HP eyes flurry of smaller acquisitions

Whitman says $1.5bn will be maximum spend in near future in light of legacy of troubled takeovers

HP boss Meg Whitman has ruled out splashing huge amounts of cash on acquisitions in the near future, claiming the firm might be interested in deals in the region of just $100m (£64.19m).

Speaking in a televised interview on CNBC yesterday, Whitman conceded the firm had a legacy of making acquisitions that have not worked out well, but said HP's wallet will not be firmly shut forever.

In 2011, HP acquired Autonomy for $12bn in a deal which later cost it $8.8bn in a goodwill impairment charge.

Whitman (pictured) suggested deals in the region of $100m to $300m will be of interest to the firm, but said that it could be tempted to stretch to spending up to $1bn to $1.5bn on the right company.

"The happy situation is because our net-debt position on the operating company is approaching zero, we now have the ability to rethink our capital allocation strategy," she explained.

"Now, I think acquisitions will become part of our future to further some of our strategic initiatives and to shore up some product holes in some of our businesses. We will be very careful, we understand we have a legacy of some acquisitions that did not work out very well, so we will be very judicious and strategic, and not pay too much.

"I want to be very selective in making sure that what we buy will actually accelerate HP. I don't want to do it just to buy growth, I want to do it to further the strategic position in the marketplace."

Earlier in the week, HP's Enterprise Group boss Dave Donatelli was replaced by former software chief Bill Veghte after the division performed poorly in its Q3. The vendor's overall sales dropped eight per cent annually to $27.23bn – trailing Wall Street expectations.