UK probes HPE’s deliberate $14B Juniper Networks acquisition

The U.Ok.’s Competitors and Markets Authority (CMA) has initiated a proper “part 1” investigation into Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s (HPE) deliberate acquisition of Juniper Networks.

The CMA mentioned it’s within the early levels of assessing whether or not the deal is prone to “lead to a considerable lessening of competitors inside any market or markets in the UK for items or providers.”

HPE introduced plans to amass Juniper Networks again in January 2024, a deal designed to unify their respective strengths within the realms of networking and IT infrastructure, spanning servers, storage, consulting, routing, switching, and safety. As with nearly each mega deal lately, a significant motivation behind the merger was — in company parlance — to “speed up AI-driven innovation,” given the crucial function that cloud infrastructure performs within the burgeoning AI motion.

On the time, HPE mentioned it could pay $40 a share, representing a 32% premium over the latest closing worth — amounting to a complete worth of $14 billion.

A deal of this magnitude was all the time prone to appeal to regulatory scrutiny, and the U.Ok. is the primary jurisdiction to point out its hand, although it’s seemingly the European Fee will not less than check out the deal, whereas the Federal Commerce Fee (FTC) within the U.S. might doubtlessly increase considerations, too. Within the meantime, Brazil’s regulators gave an unconditional clearance to the deal in Could.

Regulatory roadblocks can doubtlessly scupper offers within the works. Adobe final yr was pressured to tug the plug on its $20 billion bid for Figma after pushback each within the EU and the U.Ok.

For now, the CMA is inviting feedback from related stakeholders, with a deadline set for July 3. The CMA will then have till August 14 to determine whether or not to progress the investigation to a proper “part 2” inquiry.

We have now contacted HPE for remark and can replace this put up as we study extra.