U.S. DOJ Settles Antitrust Case Over HPE's $14-B Juniper Takeover

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has reached a settlement in its antitrust case challenging Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s (HPE) $14 billion all-cash acquisition of Juniper Networks, according to court filings, Reuters’ Rishabh Jaiswal reported.

Juniper denied the DOJ’s allegations, claiming the complaint mischaracterized the market dynamics and rationale behind the deal. I Photo: Juniper Networks

The settlement requires the combined company to divest HPE’s Instant On wireless networking business and license the source code for Juniper’s Mist AI software, which powers its wireless local area network (WLAN) products.

The joint agreement still requires judicial approval and would eliminate the need for a trial scheduled to begin July 9.

The DOJ sued in January, arguing that the merger would stifle competition and leave just two companies—Cisco Systems and HPE—controlling more than 70% of the U.S. networking equipment market.

In February, Juniper denied the DOJ’s allegations, claiming the complaint mischaracterized the market dynamics and rationale behind the deal.