HPE‑Juniper $14B Merger Clears DoJ Review After Divestiture Deal — Retail Reaction Tepid

Hewlett-Packard Enterprises (HPE) and Juniper Networks (JNPR) announced a settlement agreement with the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Saturday, paving the way for the consummation of their pending merger.

The companies said the agreement, subject to court approval, resolved the DOJ’s antitrust lawsuit challenging the deal and cleared the way for the transaction to close.

The acquisition agreement, first announced in January 2024, provided for HPE to buy Juniper for $40 per share in cash, representing an equity value of $14 billion. 

The original closure timeline was either late 2024 or early 2025. 

Hewlett-Packard Enterprises stock has lost over 12% so far this year, but has added about 19% since the deal was announced. Juniper stock is little changed this year.

The deal closure news hasn’t altered the sentiment of Hewlett-Packard retail traders on Stocktwits, as it continued to be ‘bearish’ by late Sunday, in line with the mood that prevailed a day ago.

The message volume was ‘high.’

The settlement required the company to divest its “Instant On” campus and branch WLAN business, including all assets, intellectual property, R&D personnel, and customer relationships, to a DOJ-approved buyer within 180 days. 

The two companies were also mandated to hold an auction to license Juniper’s artificial intelligence (AI) Ops for Mist source code — an important component in modern WLAN systems. 

The settlement agreement was viewed as a win-win proposition by both parties.

The Justice Department stated that the agreement would ensure key software assets are available to rivals seeking to compete with the merged company. 

Meanwhile, Antonio Neri, president and CEO of HPE, said, “Our agreement with the DOJ paves the way to close HPE’s acquisition of Juniper Networks and preserves the intended benefits of this deal for our customers and shareholders, while creating greater competition in the global networking market.”

Looking ahead to the future as a combined company, Juniper CEO Rami Rahim said the combination would enable the delivery of a complete portfolio of modern, secure networking solutions to connect organizations and provide essential foundations for hybrid cloud and AI.

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