The UK SFO’s investigation follows the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and the UK Financial Reporting Council‘s (FRC) probe, both of which were also related to the acqusition.
HP said it has provided information to the UK Serious Fraud Office, the DOJ and the SEC related to alleged accounting improprieties, disclosure failures and misrepresentations at Autonomy which took place before and during the acquisition.
A spokesperson for the SFO told the BBC allegations have been made to the SFO about the circumstances of the sale in 2011 of Autonomy to HP.
"The director of the Serious Fraud Office has decided to open an investigation into those allegations, with a view to using its powers of investigation to allow them to be tested," the spokesperson added.
HP wrote down $8.8bn of goodwill and intangible assets in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012 relating to its acquired Autonomy business.
Last year, HP was sued by its shareholders who claimed the company knowingly made misleading statements about the Autonomy purchase.
