Tech giant Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) is anticipated to get the go-ahead from European regulators for its $14 billion acquisition of Juniper Networks, a significant transaction that will bolster its networking division.
The acquisition was revealed in January, and HPE filed with the European Commission earlier this month to request regulatory permission.
Regulators have until August 1 to decide whether to approve the merger or launch a thorough probe.
According to earlier Reuters reporting, which cited unidentified individuals, the corporation was anticipated to highlight the market dominance of market leader Cisco in its arguments to the Commission regarding potential competition concerns.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the UK’s competition watchdog, announced last month that it was looking into the merger due to competition concerns. It also stated that it would announce by August 14 whether or not to refer the merger for a Phase 2 inquiry.
Although HPE stated it would cooperate with the CMA to finish the required reviews and obtain clearance as quickly as possible, the company had been planning to consummate the acquisition by the end of 2024 or the beginning of the following year.
“The combination of HPE and Juniper advances HPE’s portfolio mix shift toward higher-growth solutions and strengthens its high-margin networking business, accelerating HPE’s sustainable profitable growth strategy,” HPE stated.
According to the company, the acquisition will give HPE “a comprehensive portfolio that presents customers and partners with a compelling new choice to drive business value” and increase its networking business.
Less than 1% of Juniper shareholders voted against the acquisition, while the majority of votes in April approved it.
We earlier reported that Samsung announced that it had acquired the UK knowledge graph company Oxford Semantic Technologies.
