Hewlett-Packard Enterprise agreed to sell its software business to Micro Focus in a $8.8 billion deal. Autonomy, the British firm bought by HP in a $11 billion push into software just five years ago, will return to British control after the deal for far below its original price.

HPE Chief Executive Meg Whitman is focusing the group on a few areas such as networking, storage and technology services since it separated last year from computer and printer maker HP Inc.

"Micro Focus' approach to managing both growing and mature software assets will ensure higher levels of investment in growth areas, like big data analytics and security, while maintaining a stable platform for ... software products that customers rely on," she said.

Micro Focus will pay $2.5 billion in cash to HPE, while HPE shareholders will own 50.1 percent of the combined company that will operate under the name Micro Focus and be run by its executives. HPE said it would pay $700 million in one-time costs related to the separation of the assets.

Earlier this year, Micro Focus acquired U.S. firm Serena Software for $540 million.

Micro Focus has also shifted strategy to buying higher growth software such as SUSE, the world's No.2 maker of Linux software while wringing the most out of aging software.