San Francisco Business Times :
HP said today it will spend about $4.5 billion to buy Mercury Interactive Corp., a business software maker that recently changed its reported 2003 profit to a loss.
H-P will pay $52 a share in cash for Mountain View-based Mercury
Palo Alto-based H-P, which has 150,000 employees, said the deal will increase annual sales at its software unit to $2 billion. After a tender offer for all outstanding Mercury shares, Mercury will merge with an H-P unit. The deal should close in the fourth quarter of 2006.
H-P did not address Mercury's status with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC said earlier this month it might file civil charges against company directors.
In early July, Mercury restated financials for fiscal years 2002, 2003 and 2004, reporting about $566.7 million less in income than previously posted. The restatement reversed Mercury's reported 2003 profit of $41.5 million into a loss of $62.6 million. For 2002, the company cut its profit of $65 million to $37 million; for 2004 from $84.6 million to $53.7 million.
Mercury said its legal and accounting bill for the cleanup is likely to be around $70 million.
Mercury at a Glance :
CEO and President = Tony Zingale
Year Founded = 1989
Revenue 2004 = $685.5 Million
Number of Employees = 2,659
Worldwide Offices = 26
http://www.mercury.com/us/company/corporate-info/contact-us/ww-contacts/
