The acquisition of Juniper by HPE has finally been approved, following an earlier blockage by the U.S. government.
HPE has finally received approval to acquire Juniper Networks. The company plans to pay 14 billion dollars for it. However, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) was not in favor of the acquisition.
The DOJ feared a concentration of power at HPE, which would reduce market competition. Additionally, HPE might want to acquire Juniper to eliminate a competitor. The criticism was not unfounded. HPE and Juniper are the second and third largest providers of wireless network capacities in the U.S., preceded only by Cisco.
Conditions
After discussions, the parties have reached an agreement. The acquisition may proceed, albeit under conditions. Juniper must make the source code of its Mist AI Ops software available under license, and HPE must divest its Instant On division specializing in wireless network capacities for SMEs.
The sale of Instant On must take place within 180 days after the finalization of the acquisition. The DOJ must also approve the buyer.
Both HPE and Juniper are pleased with the outcome of the discussions. The main goal of the acquisition remains intact. HPE will now be able to combine its Aruba Networking capabilities with Juniper Networks’ portfolio.
In this way, the two companies aim to grow in the network market, with a specific focus on data centers. The intention is to compete with Cisco.