Oracle accuses Autonomy boss Mike Lynch of lying

Oracle has launched a remarkable attack on Autonomy chief executive Mike Lynch, accusing him of lying when he denied that he tried to sell the company to Oracle before it was acquired by HP.

Oracle said that Autonomy was pitched to its executives, and that it still has the PowerPoint slides to prove the meeting took place.

The database firm said that one of the main reasons it rejected Autonomy's offer was that its market value of $6bn was "already extremely overpriced".

The comments about Autonomy's apparent over valuation are significant considering that HP's board ousted former chief executive Léo Apotheker in part because of the premium he agreed to pay for Autonomy. HP announced the $10.3bn acquisition of Autonomy on 18 August.

Oracle issued the statement on Wednesday following a story in The Wall Street Journal in which Lynch denied that he had tried to persuade Oracle to buy his company.

"Either Mr. Lynch has a very poor memory or he's lying," said the statement, adding that Oracle can prove that Lynch and his investment banker, Frank Quattrone, had met Oracle executives on 1 April.

"The Lynch shopping visit to Oracle is easy to verify. We still have his PowerPoint slides," said the statement.

In the WSJ report, Lynch was countering comments made by Oracle chief executive Larry Ellison in a conference call with analysts on 20 September about Lynch's approach.

Oracle's assertion is further supported by an email seen by Bloomberg news, which was sent from Quattrone to Oracle president Mark Hurd in January and proposes the benefits of acquiring Autonomy.

"It's a very strategic asset that could alter the balance of power in the industry for whoever might acquire it," the email said.