Hewlett-Packard claims in court that it lost more than $4 billion after acquiring Autonomy, a British software company co-founded by tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch, nicknamed “Britain’s Bill Gates,” Reuters reported.

HP acquired Autonomy in 2011 for $11.1 billion in one of the largest acquisitions in the history of a British technology company. But the deal spectacularly fell apart, and in just one year HP valued the British company at $8.8 billion less than the purchase price.

The US tech giant claims it was misled by an elaborate fraud scheme that Lynch orchestrated with Autonomy’s former chief financial officer Sushawan Hussain to significantly overvalue the company’s assets. Hussain has also been summoned to court as a defendant in the trial, which is being held in London.

In 2022, HP won the trial on the merits, one of the longest in the history of British civil law. But the Supreme Court in London then determined that the possible damages that HP is entitled to receive are much smaller than the amount of 5 billion dollars claimed by the American company.

In the US, Mike Lynch is accused of fraud

But on Monday, HP lawyers argued that the losses from the fraud are about $4 billion. Instead, Lynch claims that HP suffered no actual damages. Last year, he was extradited from the UK to the US, where he is being prosecuted.

The criminal trial in the United States is due to begin next month.

David Wolfson, his lawyer in the London trial, said in court filings that the price HP would have paid for Autonomy “wouldn’t have been different” even without the asset revaluation, in part because Autonomy would have “unique technology” and because that the acquisition decision was strategic for the American company.

Lynch’s legal team previously said he plans to appeal the court’s decision in 2022, but is waiting to see how much damages the court will award.

Sushovan Hussain, the former CFO of Autonomy, has already been sentenced to 5 years in prison in the US after a trial that ended in 2019.