Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) is closing on a $13 billion deal for Juniper Networks, according to a report yesterday (Monday, January 8) in The Wall Street Journal, and widely covered elsewhere since. So far, neither company has commented on the story; the original cites people familiar with the matter, and Reuters has since referenced the same, suggesting a deal could close as early as this week.
Juniper Networks sells network routing, switching, security, and intelligence to mobile operators and private enterprises. At writing, its shares were trading up by almost seven percent (6.75 percent) on Tuesday, after rumour spread; by contrast, shares in HPE were trading down by around the same percentage (7.47 percent) in the same period. The former’s market capitalisation stood at $11.7 billion on Tuesday afternoon; HPE’s was at $21.3 billion.
The Wall Street Journal suggested a deal for Juniper Networks could help HPE’s artificial intelligence (AI) offerings. In particular, the focus of coverage has been on Juniper’s AI networking (AIOps) portfolio, including its notable Mist AI product, which promises “insight, automation, and self-driving actions” for enterprise networks. But the deal likely goes further, to position HPE as a full-service provider of enterprise network systems and IT management software.
As a note, and a further example of the potential alignment of their network and IT portfolios, both firms have put a major focus on private 5G offerings in the past 12 months, with HPE acquiring Italian core networking specialist Athonet for an undisclosed sum in March last year, and Juniper Networks, with a traditional stronghold in enterprise networks also, presenting itself (according to RCR regular Jeff Kagan) as an “AI-driven private networking company” in conversation in July.
RCR Wireless will report back as and when there’s any movement on the deal.
