Tech tycoon Mike Lynch must wait to find out if he will be extradited to the US

A British technology tycoon facing extradition to the USA is waiting for a ruling on an appeal bid.

Two judges finished considering Mike Lynch’s challenge at a High Court hearing in London on Thursday.

Lord Justice Lewis and Mr Justice Julian Knowles indicated that they would deliver a ruling in the near future.

The then home secretary, Priti Patel, approved Mr Lynch’s extradition to the United States, to answer criminal fraud charges, in January 2022.

A judge at Westminster Magistrates’ Court had ruled that Ms Patel could decide whether to order extradition.

Mr Lynch has appealed against that ruling by District Judge Michael Snow.

Lawyers representing the US Government said Judge Snow made “correct” decisions.

Ms Patel’s decision to approve extradition came after Mr Lynch lost a multibillion-dollar fraud action, at the High Court in London, over the sale of his software company, Autonomy, to Hewlett Packard (HP) in 2011.

Mr Lynch, who has a PhD in signal processing – a form of electrical engineering, had been accused of deliberately overstating the value of his business before it was acquired by the American technology giant.

HP had sued Mr Lynch and Autonomy’s former chief financial officer, Sushovan Hussain, for about five billion US dollars (£3.7 billion), following its purchase of Autonomy, which had a base in Cambridge, England.

HP had acquired the company for 11.1 billion US dollars (£8.3 billion) more than a decade ago.

A High Court judge who oversaw that trial said HP had “substantially succeeded” in its various claims against the two men – but is likely to receive “substantially less” than the amount claimed in damages.

Ms Patel had wanted to consider Mr Justice Hildyard’s ruling on HP’s claim before making an extradition decision.

Mr Lynch has denied all charges against him. Lord Justice Lewis and Mr Justice Julian Knowles have been told that the civil litigation overseen by Mr Justice Hildyard had yet to conclude.

They heard that there had been no decision on the amount of damages and said they did not know whether Mr Lynch was going to appeal.

Mr Lynch has signalled his intention to appeal against Mr Justice Hildyard’s ruling.