LONDON—Shares in U.K. software company Autonomy Corp. soared 76% Friday after U.S. tech company Hewlett-Packard Co. made a £6.21 billion ($10.25 billion) takeover offer for the data-analytics specialist.Autonomy's board Thursday said it intends to unanimously recommend shareholders accept H-P's offer of £25.50 a share.Autonomy said its directors also entered "irrevocable undertakings" to accept the offer on behalf of their own holdings, representing a total of about 9.1% of the company's share capital.Given the premium and commitment of Autonomy's directors we are sceptical about any counter-offer," Société Générale analyst Richard Nguyen said. "We expect a very positive market reaction on Autonomy's share price today."Autonomy shares traded up 1085 pence at 2513 pence, giving the company a market capitalization of just over £6.1 billion.While there are a few other companies that have the firepower to execute such a large deal and could step in with a counter-offer, analysts said another offer was unlikely to materialize.As this is a friendly takeover at a generous premium and is unlikely to raise antitrust issues given the fragmentation of the enterprise search market, we believe a successful closure is highly likely, with only a minor risk of counterbidding by H-P'scompetitors," Exane BNP Paribas analyst Josep Bori said."While we do see several large companies having the capacity to execute a large deal of this size, we do not see any of these having the strategic imperative or intention to pursue a business like Autonomy," Morgan Stanley analysts said.
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