DoJ Sues To Halt HPE Acquisition Of Juniper Networks


US Justice Dept sues to block HPE proposed acquisition of Juniper, cites elimination of competition in wireless networking

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) and Juniper Networks have reacted angrily after the US Department of Justice (DoJ) sued to block their proposed acquisition.

The DOJ announced on Thursday that it has “sued to block Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co.’s (HPE) proposed $14 billion acquisition of rival wireless local area network (WLAN) technology provider Juniper Networks Inc.”

The DoJ pointed out that HPE and Juniper are the “second- and third- largest providers, respectively, of enterprise-grade WLAN solutions in the United States. The complaint, filed in the Northern District of California, alleges that the proposed transaction would eliminate fierce head-to-head competition between the companies, raise prices, reduce innovation, and diminish choice for scores of American businesses and institutions, in violation of Section 7 of the Clayton Act.”

Image credit: HPE

HPE Acquisition of Juniper

It was a year ago in January 2024 when Juniper’s board had agreed to be acquired in an all-cash transaction that would allow HPE to exploit Juniper’s network security and AI-enabled enterprise networking offerings.

HPE said at the time that the deal is a “highly complementary combination … enhances secure, unified, cloud and AI-native networking to drive innovation from edge to cloud to exascale.”

The acquisition was expected to double HPE’s networking business, and to provide it with “a comprehensive portfolio that presents customers and partners with a compelling new choice to drive business value”, the company said at the time.

On this side of the pond, the acquisition triggered investigations in both the United Kingdom and Europe.

The European Commission cleared the deal in early August, followed shortly after by the UK’s CMA.

DoJ lawsuit

And now a year after the acquisition was first announced, the Trump’s DoJ has decided to block the deal.

“HPE and Juniper are successful companies,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Omeed A. Assefi of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “But rather than continue to compete as rivals in the WLAN marketplace, they seek to consolidate – increasing concentration in an already concentrated market.”

“The threat this merger poses is not theoretical,” Assefi added. “Vital industries in our country — including American hospitals and small businesses — rely on wireless networks to complete their missions. This proposed merger would significantly reduce competition and weaken innovation, resulting in large segments of the American economy paying more for less from wireless technology providers.”

The DoJ also noted that WLAN technology – which includes hardware, software, and advanced artificial intelligence – is critical for the modern workplace. It said that Juniper has been a disruptive force that has grown rapidly from a minor player to among the three largest enterprise-grade WLAN suppliers in the US.

This competitive pressure has forced HPE to discount its offerings and invest in its own innovation, the DoJ noted.

According to the DoJ, HPE recognised and tracked Juniper’s growing significance and engaged in a campaign, including mandatory training for its engineers and salespeople, to “beat” Juniper when competing for contracts.

Now, HPE seeks to acquire its smaller, innovative rival, the DoJ cautioned. The proposed transaction between HPE and Juniper, if allowed to proceed, would further consolidate an already highly concentrated market – and leave US enterprises facing two companies commanding over 70 percent of the market, with just two players (the post-merger HPE and market leader Cisco Systems).

HPE/Juniper response

Both HPE and Juniper said they strongly opposed the DoJ’s decision.

“We believe the Department of Justice’s analysis of this acquisition is fundamentally flawed and we are disappointed in its decision to file a suit attempting to prohibit the closing of the transaction,” both companies stated. “We will vigorously defend against the Department of Justice’s overreaching interpretation of antitrust laws and will demonstrate how this transaction will provide customers with greater innovation and choice, positively change the dynamics in the networking market by enhancing competition, and strengthen the backbone of US networking infrastructure.”

“Consistent with the conclusions reached by all other major antitrust regulators who have reviewed the deal, this transaction brings together two complementary networking offerings and will create a networking player with the scope and scale to more effectively compete with global incumbents,” they added. “This proposed acquisition will provide customers of all sizes with a modern, secure network built with AI and for AI to ensure a better user and operator experience, and will create more competition, not less.”

HPE and Juniper said they remain fully committed to the transaction and believe they will prevail in litigation and close the transaction.

Tech veteran

Hewlett-Packard is regarded as one of the founding companies of California’s tech homeland of Silicon Valley, after being founded in 1939 in a Palo Alto garage.

HPE itself was created in the 2015 split of Hewlett-Packard, which saw HPE concentrating on enterprise software and networking, whereas HP focused on making PCs, laptops and printers.

Since then HPE has mostly avoided making large acquisitions (after the Autonomy debacle), although it did purchase veteran supercomputer maker Cray Inc for $1.3bn back in 2019.

In December 2020 HPE announced it was leaving California and moved its headquarters to Texas.



Source link

Share

Latest Updates

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Articles

China’s JD.com moves into food delivery, starts recruiting restaurants

China's e-commerce giant JD.com is venturing into the country's highly competitive food delivery...

Realme P3 Pro Design Teased; to Be Available With a Glow in the Dark Rear Panel

Realme P3 Pro is set to be unveiled in India on February 18....

Texas awards grants to five space companies

WASHINGTON — A Texas state agency awarded $47.7 million in grants to five...
SULTAN88
SULTANSLOT
RAJA328
JOIN88
GFC88
HOKIBET
RUSIASLOT88
TAHU69
BONANZA99
PRAGMABET
MEGA55
LUXURY777
LUXURY333
BORJU89
QQGAMING
KEDAI168
MEGA777
NAGASLOT777
TAKSU787
KKSLOT777
MAS77TOTO
bandar55
BOS303
HOKI99
NUSA365
YUHUSLOT
KTP168
GALAXY138
NEXIA138
PETIR33
BOOM138
MEGA888
CABE888
FOSIL777
turbospin138
KAPAKBET
SUPERJP
sultankoin99
dragon88
raffi888
kenzobet
aladin666
rgo365
ubm4d
GERCEP88
VIVA99
CR777
VOXY88
delman567
intan69
CABE888
RNR303
LOGO303
PEMBURUGACOR
mpo383
cermin4d
bm88
ANGKA79
WOWHOKI
ROKET303
MPOXL
GURITA168
SUPRASLOT
SGCWIN
DESA88
ARWANA388
DAUNEMAS
ALADDIN666
BIOWIN69
SKY77
DOTA88
NAGA138
API5000
y200m
PLAYBOOK88
LUXURY12
A200M
MPO700
KENANGAN4D
cakrabola
PANDAGENDUT
MARVEL77
UG300
HOKI178
MONTE77
JASABOLA
UNTAR4D
LIDO88
MAFIABOLA77
GASPOL189
mpo999
untung138
TW88
JAGUAR33
MPOBOS
SHIO88
VIVO4D
MPOXL
JARISAKTI
BBO303
AONCASH
ANGKER4D
LEVIS4D
JAGO88
REPUBLIK365
BOSDEAL88
BOLA168
akunjp
WARTEGBET
EZEBET
88PULSA
KITAB4D
BOSDEAL88
STUDIOBET
MESINKOIN
BIMA88
PPNUSA
ABGBET88
TOP77
BAYAR77
YES77
BBTN4D
BBCA4D
VSLOTS88
MPO800
PAHALA4D
KPI4D
JURAGAN77
QQ188
BOLAPELANGI
C200M
QQ998
GWKTOGEL
MEGABANDAR
COLOWIN
VIP579
SEVEN4D
MPO188
DEWATA88
SURAT4D
SINAR123
LAMBO77
GUDANG4D
AWAN4D
PLANETLIGA
GT88
ROYALSPIN88
MAMAJITU
MITO99
PEDIA4D
WIBU69JP
333HOKI
SIDARMA88
NAGAEMAS99
HOLA88
CAKAR76
KINGTOTO
RATUGAMING
SSI168
PILAR168
ACTOTO
EYANGTOGEL
KAISAR328
SLOT628
KAISAR88
DOTA88
MAXWIN369
ALIBABA99
MM168
SQUAD777
NAGABET88
JAYABOLA
SEMPATIGAME
PANDAJAGO
PIKAT4D
SINGA77
YUYU33
MASTERPLAY99
VICTORY39
NASA4D
PERMATA55
SAKAUSLOT
CK303
MPOTOWER
CIPUTRABET
WINJUDI
DEWI5000
IYA777
MAHIRTOTO
GOSLOT88
TIPTOP4D
RAJA787
JBO680
JOKER188
EPICPLAY88
TRIVABET
KAISAR189
JOKER81
JPSPIN88
MAYORA4D
DJARUMPLAY
OVO88
BAKTI78
WINGSLOT77
ICAFE4D
PDTOTO
JETPLAY88
CMBET88
CMBET88
didascaliasdelteatrocaminito.com
glenellynrent.com
gypsumboardequipment.com
realseller.org
https://harrysphone.com/upin
gyergyoalfalu.ro/tokek
vipokno.by/gokil
winjospg.com
winjos801.com/
www.logansquarerent.com
internationalfintech.com/bamsz
condowizard.ca
jawatoto889.com
hikaribet3.live
hikaribet1.com
heylink.me/hikaribet
www.nomadsumc.org
condowizard.ca/aromatoto
euro2024gol.com
www.imaracorp.com
daftarsekaibos.com
stuffyoucanuse.org/juragan
Toto Macau 4d
Aromatoto
Lippototo
Mbahtoto
Winjos
152.42.229.23
bandarlotre126.com
heylink.me/sekaipro
www.get-coachoutletsonline.com
wholesalejerseyslord.com
Lippototo
Zientoto
Lippototo
Situs Togel Resmi
Fajartoto
Situs Togel
Toto Macau
Winjos
Winlotre
Aromatoto
design-develop-test.com
winlotre.online
winlotre.xyz
winlotre.us
winlotrebandung.com
winlotrepalu.com
winlotresurabaya.shop
winlotrejakarta.com
winlotresemarang.shop
winlotrebali.shop
winlotreaceh.shop
winlotremakmur.com
Dadu Online
Taruhantoto
a Bandarlotre
bursaliga
lakitoto
aromatoto
Rebahin
untungslot.pages.dev
slotpoupler.pages.dev
rtpliveslot88a.pages.dev
tipsgameslot.pages.dev
pilihslot88.pages.dev
fortuertiger.pages.dev
linkp4d.pages.dev
linkslot88a.pages.dev
slotpgs8.pages.dev
markasjudi.pages.dev
saldo69.pages.dev
slotbenua.pages.dev
saingtoto.pages.dev
markastoto77.pages.dev
jowototo88.pages.dev
sungli78.pages.dev
volatilitas78.pages.dev
bonusbuy12.pages.dev
slotoffiline.pages.dev
dihindari77.pages.dev
rtpdislot1.pages.dev
agtslot77.pages.dev
congtoto15.pages.dev
hongkongtoto7.pages.dev
sinarmas177.pages.dev
hours771.pages.dev
sarana771.pages.dev
kananslot7.pages.dev
balitoto17.pages.dev
jowototo17.pages.dev
aromatotoding.com
unyagh.org
fairparkcounseling.com/gap/
impress-newtex.com/ajax/
SULTAN88
SULTANSLOT
RAJA328
JOIN88+
HOKIBET
GFC88
RusiaSlot88
Tahu69
BONANZA99
Pragmabet
mega55
luxury777
luxury333
borju89
qqgaming
KEDAI168
mega777
nagaslot777
TAKSU787
kkslot777
MAS77TOTO
BANDAR55+
BOS303
Login-HOKI99/
NUSA365
YUHUSLOT
ktp168
GALAXY138