Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE, Financial) is set to acquire Juniper Networks (JNPR) for $14 billion after reaching an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). The DOJ had initially filed a lawsuit to block the acquisition, citing concerns that the merger would reduce competition, increase prices, and stifle innovation in the WLAN technology sector. To address these concerns, HPE will divest its Instant On WLAN business and open Juniper's Mist AI operations source code to competitors.
This acquisition aims to bolster HPE's position in the growing AI products market. HPE's CEO, Antonio Neri, emphasized that the combined entity will offer modern network architecture alternatives that better meet AI workload demands. Following the announcement, Juniper Networks' stock rose by 8%, while HPE's stock surged 11%, leading the S&P 500 index in early trading, despite being down for the year.
