HPE soars after DOJ clears Juniper Networks acquisition
The approval ends a months-long legal challenge to the highly anticipated $14 billion takeover deal.
Shares of HP Enterprise jumped 13% Monday morning after the Department of Justice officially cleared its $14 billion acquisition of Juniper Networks. The announcement ends a contentious antitrust lawsuit that had loomed over the deal since January.
The merger would consolidate the three industry major players (HPE, Juniper, and Cisco) down to two, giving the combined company control of about 70% of the enterprise wireless equipment market. HPE says the deal will help it deliver customers more secure, AI-native networking solutions as it ramps up efforts in AI data centers and cloud infrastructure.
“Our agreement with the DOJ paves the way to close HPE’s acquisition of Juniper Networks and preserves the intended benefits of this deal for our customers and shareholders, while creating greater competition in the global networking market,” CEO Antonio Neri said in a statement.
Bank of America analysts raised their price target on the stock to $23 from $20 and reiterated a “buy” rating following the DOJ approval. In addition to overall deal optimism, they noted that the required divestments were modest and projected the deal could lift HPE’s earnings by 8% in 2026, or up to 14% if the company delivers $200 million in expected cost synergies.
HPE shares are down 3% year to date.
