The European Commission is reportedly poised to give unconditional approval for HPE's planned $14 billion acquisition of Juniper Networks.


In January, HPE announced its definitive agreement to acquire Juniper Networks, a California-based network equipment manufacturer, to enhance its connectivity capabilities for demanding AI and hybrid cloud applications.

The EU competition regulator set an August 1 deadline to decide on the deal, and sources familiar with the matter indicate that approval is likely. However, neither HPE nor the European Commission have commented, and Juniper has yet to respond to inquiries.

If approved, the acquisition is expected to double the size of HPE's networking business, which has its roots in the acquisition of Aruba about nine years ago when HPE was still HP.

The primary focus of this acquisition seems to be HPE's strategy to capitalize on the expanding AI market. CEO Antonio Neri stated that the merger would "strengthen HPE's position at the nexus of accelerating macro-AI trends, expand our total addressable market, and drive further innovation for customers as we help bridge the AI-native and cloud-native worlds."

HPE, based in Texas, is already benefiting from the growth in AI by providing servers and solutions optimized for AI. In its Q2 FY2024 earnings, HPE's Server division saw an 18 percent revenue increase to $3.9 billion, with significant growth attributed to AI-related sales.

Despite the positive outlook, some network professionals have expressed concerns that the merger might reduce competition and limit choices in the market as HPE might streamline overlapping products from Juniper and Aruba post-acquisition.