The U.S. Department of Justice sues Hewlett Packard Enterprise to block its acquisition of network equipment maker Juniper Networks
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Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), which took over the server and other enterprise hardware divisions of Hewlett Packard (HP), announced that it would acquire network equipment giant Juniper Networks in January 2024. In response, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit on January 30, 2025 to block the acquisition, alleging that it would impede competition in the network equipment market.
Office of Public Affairs | Justice Department Sues to Block Hewlett Packard Enterprise's Proposed $14 Billion Acquisition of Rival Wireless Networking Technology Provider Juniper Networks | United States Department of Justice
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-sues-block-hewlett-packard-enterprises-proposed-14-billion-acquisition
US DOJ sues to block Hewlett Packard Enterprise's $14 billion Juniper deal | Reuters
DOJ Sues to Stop HPE's $14B Deal to Buy Juniper Networks - Bloomberg
The DOJ lawsuit stems from HPE's announcement on January 9, 2024 of its plan to acquire Juniper Networks for $14 billion. HPE CEO Antonio Neri said, 'By acquiring Juniper Networks, we can accelerate the latest AI-driven networking technologies.'
However, the DOJ pointed out that 'if HPE's acquisition of Juniper Networks is successful, the number of major companies in the network equipment market will be reduced from the current three companies (HPE, Juniper Networks, and Cisco ) to two, eliminating competition,' and filed a lawsuit against HPE under antitrust laws. Omid Asefi, Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the Department of Justice's Antitrust Division, criticized the acquisition, saying, 'The threat posed by this acquisition is not imaginary. Many industries in our country, including American hospitals and small businesses, rely on wireless networks. This proposed acquisition would significantly eliminate competition and undermine innovation, resulting in a large portion of the American economy paying more for wireless technology providers.'
On the other hand, HPE and Juniper Networks jointly stated, 'DOJ's assertion that the network equipment market is composed of three major companies is far removed from market reality, which is dominated by many other companies, including Fortinet, Arista, Nile, Meter and Extreme Networks. ' 'DOJ made a poor choice. If anything, its lawsuit against HPE will harm competition,' indicating that it will fight the DOJ.
'We believe HPE's acquisition of Juniper Networks will increase competition in the networking space, which is dominated by market heavyweight Cisco,' said Patrick Shelley, CTO of solutions provider PKA Technologies. 'HPE's successful acquisition of Juniper Networks would drive further innovation and force Cisco to stay up to date on AI-enabled networking. DOJ made a bad choice.'
Shelley also said, 'The DOJ lawsuit will certainly put a pause on HPE's acquisition of Juniper Networks. If the litigation drags on, it could deal a major blow to HPE in terms of innovation.'
Cisco has not commented on the lawsuit.
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