Trump’s DoJ Sues To Halt $14 Billion Hewlett Packard-Juniper Networks Deal

Under the Trump-Vance administration, the US Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit to block Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s $14 billion acquisition of Juniper Networks. The DoJ argues that the tie-up, which would leave Juniper and HPE with control of 70% of the enterprise wireless equipment market, would „eliminate fierce head-to-head competition” in the US.

„The acquisition, if consummated, would result in two companies—market leader Cisco Systems, Inc. („Cisco”) and HPE—controlling well over 70 percent of the US market and eliminate fierce head-to-head competition between Defendants, who offer wireless networking solutions under the HPE Aruba and Juniper Mist brands,” the DoJ complaint read, which was filed in federal court in California on Thursday.

Over a year ago, HPE agreed to purchase networking gear vendor Juniper for $40 billion, or $40 per share, in an all-cash deal. The acquisition would double HPE’s existing networking business.

In response to the court filing by Trump’s DoJ, Hewlett and Juniper released this statement:

„We believe the Department of Justice’s analysis of this acquisition is fundamentally flawed and we are disappointed in its decision to file a suit attempting to prohibit the closing of the transaction. We will vigorously defend against the Department of Justice’s overreaching interpretation of antitrust laws and will demonstrate how this transaction will provide customers with greater innovation and choice, positively change the dynamics in the networking market by enhancing competition, and strengthen the backbone of US networking infrastructure. Consistent with the conclusions reached by all other major antitrust regulators who have reviewed the deal, this transaction brings together two complementary networking offerings and will create a networking player with the scope and scale to more effectively compete with global incumbents. This proposed acquisition will provide customers of all sizes with a modern, secure network built with AI and for AI to ensure a better user and operator experience, and will create more competition, not less.”

Evercore ISI analyst Amit Daryanani told clients, „HPE and Juniper will undergo its pretrial and trial processes over the next about 8 months prior to the absolute walk-away date in October – which we think gives suffice time for a trial to commence.”

Hewlett shares in New York initially sank 6% on the court filing. Some losses have been clawed back by the late cash session. Shares of Juniper fell around 3%.

We have previously detailed HDPE’s long list of failed acquisitions…

• From Pioneer To Fallen Giant: How Hewlett Packard’s Long List Of Failed Acquisitions Cost Its Reputation, Part 1, Part 2 & Part 3

The lawsuit marks the first antitrust action by Trump’s DOJ, suggesting that his administration is continuing Biden’s DOJ’s aggressive stance against corporate America’s consolidation spree, which has accelerated in recent years.