Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) has filed an application with European regulators for the $14 billion acquisition of Juniper Networks. The European Commission has until August 1 to approve the merger or initiate a more extensive investigation. Similarly, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is also reviewing the deal and has set a deadline of August 14 to make a decision. Despite these regulatory processes, HPE expects to close the acquisition by late 2024 or early 2025.
Both HPE and Juniper Networks’ Board of Directors and shareholders have approved the merger. While Chinese approval is not required due to falling below the merger threshold, the US Federal Trade Commission is likely to review the deal. The merger is anticipated to bring about $450 million in annual operating efficiencies and cost synergies.
If finalized, the merger will position HPE and Juniper Networks as key players in the networking and artificial intelligence sectors. Juniper CEO, Rami Rahim, is expected to lead the combined networking business, reporting directly to HPE’s CEO, Antonio Neri. Rahim believes that AI will be a significant technology trend, and the merger with HPE will accelerate innovation across the networking and IT stack, benefiting a wide range of customer verticals.
In a statement to CRN, HPE expressed its commitment to completing the necessary reviews efficiently to deliver value to customers as soon as possible. The company remains on track to close the deal by the end of 2024 or early 2025, consistent with the initial timeline announced in January. Together, HPE and Juniper Networks seek to create comprehensive, leading-edge networking solutions that cater to various customer needs and verticals, including enterprise, service providers, and cloud services.
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https://www.crn.com/news/networking/2024/hpe-juniper-14b-merger-eu-to-make-key-decisions-by-august