FT社评：Autonomy丑闻应有更多人负责

Few big takeovers in recent years have received quite as harsh a reception as that accorded Hewlett-Packard’s $11bn bid for the British software developer, Autonomy. Not only did the US technology group’s shares crash on announcement; angry investors later forced out the chief executive responsible, Léo Apotheker.

在近年完成的大规模收购案中，没有几起像惠普(HP)以110亿美元收购英国软件开发商Autonomy这样，引发了如此令人不快的反应。不但这家美国科技集团的股价在消息公布之后立即大跌，而且愤怒的投资者后来把负责收购的首席执行官李艾科(Léo Apotheker)赶下了台。

Now, just over a year later, it is clear how right the market was to be worried. HP has written down nearly $9bn – or 80 per cent of the purchase price. It alleges that a big chunk of these impairments are the result of Autonomy’s “accounting irregularities, misrepresentations and disclosure failures. While HP still believes in Autonomy’s technology, the company’s margins – long a source of wonder in the software industry – are lower than it thought.

在一年多之后的今天，很明显，当初市场的担心是多么的正确！惠普已减记近90亿美元，相当于收购价的80%。惠普称，造成损失的主要原因在于Autonomy的“财务违规、不实陈述和披露不到位。尽管惠普仍信任Autonomy的技术，但这家软件公司的利润率低于惠普预想的水平。长期以来，Autonomy的利润率水平一直是软件业的奇迹。

The responsibility for the failings identified in HP’s somewhat belated independent due-diligence review (itself triggered by an internal whistleblower) has yet to be established. Autonomy’s former boss, Mike Lynch, has denied any wrongdoing. But the sheer size of the gap in value makes it hard to credit this purely to Mr Apotheker’s credulity – or HP’s subsequent mismanagement.

惠普迟来的独立尽职调查（由内部人爆料引起）找出了一些缺陷，但相关责任归属尚未最终确定。Autonomy前老板迈克·林奇(Mike Lynch)否认自己有过任何过失。但损失如此之大，恐怕很难完全归罪于李艾科的轻信，或者是惠普后来的管理不当。

The allegations are serious. If true, they point to failings of process and governance. Accounting in software businesses is a notoriously slippery area. But the idea of mischaracterising more than 10 per cent of revenues – as high-margin software sales when they came from low-margin hardware – is hard to pass off as some oversight or bad judgment call.

惠普所指的问题非常严重。如果情况属实，表明Autonomy的流程和治理存在缺陷。软件行业的会计处理是出了名的靠不祝但把10%以上的营收错误分类——把来自低利润率的硬件业务的营收，说成是高利润率的软件销售收入——很难归结为疏忽或判断失误。

The US group has referred the allegations to the Securities and Exchange Commission and to the Serious Fraud Office in the UK. It is also seeking compensation. The investigations should uncover whether blame can be attached to Mr Lynch and his colleagues. They might also usefully look at the role played by Deloitte, Autonomy’s auditors. If the allegations are correct, they stand accused of slumbering at the spreadsheet.

惠普已向美国证交会(SEC)和英国严重欺诈办公室(SFO)提交了指控。同时，惠普也在寻求得到补偿。调查应会弄明白，林奇及其同事是否应当承担责任。他们也应当认真考察Autonomy的审计机构德勤(Deloitte)在其中扮演了何种角色。如果指控属实，德勤可能被控对Autonomy报表的审查不够严格。

The majority of mergers and acquisitions fail to add value. Valuing software companies is an art, not a science, and buying growth is a chancy business. HP may have been reckless but at least Mr Apotheker – if not his fellow directors – has paid the price.

多数并购案都没能给企业增加价值。如何给软件公司估值是艺术而非科学，而且通过收购实现增长是有风险的。惠普可能当初不够谨慎，但起码李艾科（如果不是他的董事会同仁的话）已经为此付出了代价。

More worrying is the fact that Autonomy was not a start-up but a longstanding member of the FTSE?100 index. The sort of scrutiny it faced ought to have precluded the irregularities of which it is now accused. If these checks failed, that is the real scandal.

有个事实更令人担忧，Autonomy并非初创企业，而是富时100指数(FTSE?100)长期以来的成分股。Autonomy被纳入富时100指数时应当经历过严格的审查，确保其不存在如今被指控的会计违规行为。如果当时的审查没能发现问题，那才是真正的丑闻。