Mercury Interactive is apparently taking seriously a regulatory probe into prior stock option grants. The $685.5 million business software company recently announced that it has appointed a special committee to look into the matter “in response to an informal inquiry of the Securities and Exchange Commission,” which was initiated in November 2004.
The company said the Special Committee consists of what it calls disinterested members of the audit committee, and it is being assisted by independent outside legal counsel and accounting experts. Mercury added that the inquiries could cause the company to restate its financial statements for prior periods; it also said it expects to spend about $1 million on the Special Committee investigation and the SEC inquiry.
