EU to decide fate of $14bn HPE-Juniper Networks merger next month
UK CMA is also investigating the deal
HPE has filed with the European regulatory commissions for approval to purchase Juniper Networks. Here’s the timeline for the blockbuster $14 billion merger.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise has filed with the European Commission for regulatory approval of its blockbuster $14 billion acquisition of Juniper Networks. European regulators now have until August to either approve HPE's deal or force deeper investigations that could potentially stall the merger.
The European Commission now has a deadline of 1st August to either approve the HPE-Juniper merger or open a full-scale investigation into the deal.
Additionally, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) recently started a preliminary investigation into the potential impacts of the massive tech merger.
The CMA has set a deadline of 14th August to decide whether to approve the deal or progress the investigation to a formal "phase 2" inquiry that would spawn a deeper investigation.
"The CMA is considering whether it is or may be the case that this transaction, if carried into effect, will result in the creation of a relevant merger situation under the merger provisions of the Enterprise Act 2002," said the CMA in a statement. "And, if so, whether the creation of that situation may be expected to result in a substantial lessening of competition within any market or markets in the United Kingdom for goods or services."
This all means HPE's $14 billion deal for Juniper Networks could potentially receive the green light in Europe by mid-August.
When will the HPE-Juniper acquisition officially close?
The merger has been approved by both HPE and Juniper board of directors as well as shareholders.
Importantly, it is unlikely that the deal will need China's approval as it falls below the Chinese merger threshold. But the US Federal Trade Commission will still likely scrutinise the merger.
Regardless of all the regulatory hurdles, HPE says it expects to acquire Juniper Networks in late 2024 or early 2025.
"We can confirm the UK Competition and Markets Authority has accepted our filing, as part of the standard process to review the proposed acquisition of Juniper Networks in several jurisdictions," said HPE in a statement to CRN.
"We are working to complete all necessary reviews and secure clearance quickly and efficiently so that we can begin delivering value to our customers as soon as possible. We continue to expect to close by the end of calendar year 2024 or early 2025."
This still fits within HPE's initial timeframe of closing the deal by as late as early 2025, roughly one year after announcing the deal.
HPE's $14 billion plan for Juniper
In January, HPE unveiled its plan to buy networking superstar Juniper Networks for $14 billion.
The merger is expected to achieve joint operating efficiencies and cost synergies of $450 million per year.
The combination of the two tech giants could establish a new battleground in the networking space as well as in AI. Juniper Networks CEO Rami Rahim, if the deal is completed, will lead the combined HPE networking business, which includes HPE's Aruba business. Rahim will report directly to HPE CEO Antonio Neri.
In a recent interview with CRN, Rahim said AI is going "to be as big, if not bigger" than any technology trend in history.
"The kind of moves that are necessary to capture this [AI] opportunity are the big bold moves," he said.
"This combination with HPE is exactly that. It gives us an ability to accelerate our innovation across the entire networking stack. In fact, not even the networking stack, but the entire IT stack, compute, storage, networking, silicon systems and software, in all of the relevant networking domains for our customers; campus, branch, datacentre, wide area networks, and to all of the different customer verticals, certainly enterprise, but also cloud and service providers, as well," Rahim told CRN.
"Together with HPE, we can build truly comprehensive, competitive, end-to-end experience-first networking solutions that are going to make a big difference for our customers and our partners."
This article was first published on CRN.
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