Accounting Fraud in Public Companies
Since Autonomy was a public company they had to file various audited financial reports. If there was accounting fraud, where were the bean counters?
I could see many reasons for not buying Autonomy at the price paid or not buying them at all after reasonable due diligence. But it seems Leo the Galactic Idiot was determined to have his trophy no matter what. So HP overpaid and ignored signs in the press and reports that this might not be a good deal. There is nothing wrong with not proceeding with a buyout (ask Broadcom).