HPE's $14bn buy of Juniper clears UK watchdog and EU hurdles

HPE’s blockbuster acquisition of Juniper Networks has cleared two major hurdles in Europe that paves the way for the merger to be finalised

Hewlett Packard Enterprises's blockbuster $14bn acquisition of Juniper Networks is nearing the finish line after passing key approvals in Europe.

In June, the UK antitrust watchdog Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) began reviewing whether the HPE-Juniper merger would create a company that would substantially lessen "competition within any market or markets in the United Kingdom" for goods or services.

Today, the CMA approved the deal.

"The CMA investigated and cleared the anticipated acquisition by Hewlett Packard Enterprise of Juniper Networks," the CMA said in a statement on August 7.

The CMA plans to publish the full report regarding its decision in the near future.

HPE-Juniper will not ‘reduce competition' says EU

The European Commission (EC) approved HPE's acquisition of Juniper earlier this month.

The EU had been investigating the deal this summer but found that it would "raise no competition concerns" in the European Economic area. The commission concluded that the HPE-Juniper merger would not significantly reduce competition in its markets.

The EU specifically looked at the impact in the markets regarding wireless local area network (WLAN) equipment, the worldwide supply of wireless access points, Ethernet campus switches and datacentre switches.

"The transaction would not significantly reduce competition on such markets," the EU said. "The merger would not raise competition concerns on any of the markets examined."

Regarding competition, the EU said a combined HPE-Juniper "would continue to face competition from a wide range of competitors, including strong and established players on each of the markets."

The commission also found that the merger would not "have the ability to engage in anticompetitive bundling or tying practices."

HPE-Juniper merger to close in early 2025

HPE plans to close the deal by early 2025, roughly one year after announcing the deal.

The merger is expected to achieve joint operating efficiencies and cost synergies of $450m per year.

The combined HPE-Juniper is expected to establish a new battleground in the networking and artificial intelligence industry.