LONDON - British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch has been extradited to the United States to face criminal charges over Hewlett Packard's $11 billion acquisition of his software company Autonomy, Britain's interior ministry said on Friday.

Lynch - the co-founder of Autonomy who was once hailed as Britain's answer to Bill Gates - faces 17 charges over the 2011 takeover, which was one of Britain's biggest tech deals.

Lynch denies any wrongdoing and had been fighting the extradition proceedings in the British courts, arguing he should be prosecuted in Britain, but the High Court refused permission to appeal the extradition on April 21.

"Dr Lynch was extradited to the U.S. on 11 May," Britain's interior ministry said in a statement.

  - Reuters