Timeline of HPE’s $14 billion bid for Juniper

AI is a key factor in one of the tech industry’s most significant M&A developments: HPE’s proposed acquisition of Juniper Networks. The $14 billion deal would shake up the industry, and regulatory watchdogs in the U.S. and worldwide have raised antitrust concerns. Meanwhile, enterprise customers are worried about product discontinuations and roadmap disruptions.

We’ve tracked the deal since it was first announced in January 2024. Most recently, the U.S. Department of Justice moved to block the deal, citing harm to competition. Here’s a timeline of key events, beginning with the initial announcement.

Jan. 09, 2024: HPE writes $14 billion check for Juniper to boost AI networking

HPE officially entered an agreement to buy Juniper Networks for $14 billion. HPE, which has a market cap of about $21 billion, says the acquisition is expected to double its networking business by adding a significant, though somewhat overlapping, campus and data-center product lineup.

Jan. 09, 2024: HPE’s potential acquisition of Juniper may propel its position in the global AI race

The acquisition could be strategically crucial for HPE as it seeks to expand its reach in the AI and related markets that are becoming increasingly competitive. “HPE is experiencing a plateau in growth within its established market segments,” said Sanchit Vir Gogia, chief analyst and CEO at Greyhound Research. “To catalyze growth, aligning with Juniper could be strategic. HPE’s networking subsidiary, Aruba Networks, would complement Juniper’s robust SD-WAN, cloud, and AI services, potentially enhancing HPE’s market offering and competitive edge in networking.”

Feb. 19, 2024: HPE and Juniper: Why?

The justification for HPE buying Juniper may be a mundane, economy-of-scale play or a move to gain Juniper’s AI networking technology. Or there may be a vision for something more ambitious. Columnist Tom Nolle unpacks three justifications of the deal.

April 02, 2024: HPE-Juniper’s AI story resonates, but customer concerns linger

HPE’s proposed $14 billion acquisition of Juniper has caused some jitters among Juniper’s customer base of enterprises and service providers, and it has the potential to shake up the competitive dynamics across the networking industry. Because there is significant product overlap between the Juniper and HPE Aruba portfolios, customers are justifiably concerned that certain product lines will be consolidated or eliminated. There’s also the potential for channel conflicts.

June 20, 2024: HPE-Juniper merger faces antitrust inquiry in UK

An inquiry into HPE’s $14 billion takeover of Juniper Networks by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), a move that potentially could delay approval of the deal, will have little impact on data center managers, said one analyst with Info-Tech Research Group. Both companies were informed of the inquiry by the CMA, the UK’s principal antitrust regulator, on Wednesday.

July 17, 2024: Juniper advances AI networking software

Juniper continues to improve its AI-native networking platform while HPE’s $14 billion deal to acquire Juniper continues to advance through the requisite regulatory hurdles. The latest platform upgrades are designed to help enterprise customers better manage and support AI in their data centers. Juniper is also offering a new validated design for enterprise AI clusters and has opened a lab to certify enterprise AI data center projects.

Aug. 01, 2024: EU clears HPE’s $14 billion Juniper acquisition

Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s proposed acquisition of Juniper Networks took a big step forward this week as the European Commission unconditionally approved the buy. Next up: US and UK regulatory approval?

Nov. 21, 2024: AI networking a focus of HPE’s Juniper deal as Justice Department concerns swirl

HPE’s acquisition of Juniper has been under regulatory scrutiny ever since HPE announced the $14 billion deal in January. The proposed deal has passed muster with a number of world agencies so far, but there is reportedly some concern about it from the US Department of Justice. 

Jan. 30, 2025: U.S. Justice Department sues to block HPE’s $14 billion Juniper buy

After months of speculation, the U.S. Justice Department sued to block the $14 billion sale of Juniper Networks to HPE. The DOJ said reduced competition in the wireless market is the biggest problem with the proposed buy. “This proposed acquisition risks substantially lessening competition in a critically important technology market and thus poses the precise threat that the Clayton Act was enacted to prevent,” the DOJ wrote in a statement. “It should be blocked.” The companies say they plan to “vigorously defend the transaction in court.”