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The European Commission ( EC ) hasgiventhe go - ahead for Hewlett Packard Enterprise ’s ( HPE ) planned learning of Juniper Networks , concluding that the proposed dealings “ would stir no competition concerns in the European Economic Area . ”
The news comes a minuscule more than a month after HPE give notice the EC of the plan dealings .
HPE firstannounced its intentions to dole out $ 14 billionforJuniper Networksback in January . The deal would fuse the two companies ’ respective strengths in networking and IT infrastructure , include servers , storage , routing , switching , security measures , and related consulting services . Given the rolethat cloud substructure is playingin the snowballing AI motion , the companies pitched this merger as a substance to “ speed AI - driven innovation . ”
However , a deal of this size of it was always going to pull regulatory aid , which is on the dot why HPE allowed a full twelvemonth for the transaction to resolve after it was announced . While Brazil ’s regulatorsgave unconditioned clearanceto the tidy sum in May , a calendar month later , the U.K.said it would inquire the lot , and it now has two more workweek to decide whether to approve or shape up thing to a deeper “ stage 2 ” investigation .
The EC tell that it assessed a number of factors to check whether a combined company would lessen the rivalry in areas such as the supply of wireless local arena connection ( WLAN ) equipment ; wireless access tip ( WAP ) ; ethernet campus switches ; and datacenter switch . While regulators receipt the overlap between HPE and Juniper Networks in these area , it allege that the “ merged entity ’s mart military position would remain moderate ” due to the existence of other “ unassailable and established players ” in the sphere . While the EC did n’t individual out any particular entity , notable challenger includethe likes of CiscoandExtreme Networks .
Hurdles
Passing EU regulatory hurdles is a major deal for HPE and Juniper , though , and it could be a harbinger of what ’s to come in the U.K. later this calendar month . Still , there are no guarantees : Last year , the EUgreenlighted Microsoft ’s Activision skill , but theU.K. blockade itand only approve it after the companiesgave U.K. regulators a number of concessions .
There is also still scope for the U.S. Federal Trade Commission ( FTC ) to intervene , though there has been little to suggest that this might happen in the six month since the merger architectural plan were first announced .
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In a statement issued to TechCrunch , HPE say that the EC ’s approval “ satisfies a major windup condition to the proposed acquisition , ” and although it would n’t confirm which other regulative legal power it ’s still await the go - ahead from , it still bear to shut down the transaction by early 2025 .
“ We will continue working to complete all necessary remaining brushup and secure additional clearance quickly and expeditiously so that we can begin delivering time value to our customer as soon as possible , ” an HPE spokesperson say .
So for now , the HPE and Juniper Networks ’ sight is n’t quite over the bank line yet , but with European favorable reception in the traveling bag , it ’s certainly a lot faithful .
