Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) and Juniper Networks have settled a lawsuit with the US Department of Justice (DOJ) opposing HPE’s US$14 billion acquisition of Juniper.

The agreement, which is pending court approval, allows the transaction to move forward.

As part of the settlement, HPE will divest its global Instant On campus and branch business.

It will also provide limited access to Juniper’s Mist AIOps technology after the acquisition.

The companies expect the merger to enhance networking technologies to meet growing connectivity demands, especially in the AI and hybrid cloud sectors.

The deal is expected to close after the court approves the settlement.

🔗 Source: Hewlett Packard Enterprise

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ Divestiture remedies becoming standard playbook in tech antitrust settlements

HPE’s agreement to divest its Instant On business follows a well-established pattern of targeted divestitures to resolve antitrust concerns in tech mergers.

This approach mirrors the 2019 T-Mobile/Sprint merger settlement, where Dish Network acquired $5 billion in divested assets including Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile to maintain competition in the wireless market1.

The strategy allows companies to preserve most merger benefits while addressing specific competitive concerns, offering a pragmatic middle ground between outright blocking and unconditional approval.

Complete breakups remain extremely rare in U.S. antitrust enforcement, with only three non-merger breakups in history and none since AT&T in 19822.

This settlement demonstrates the DOJ’s preference for targeted remedies over blocking deals entirely, particularly when the divested assets can support viable competition.

2️⃣ AI capabilities driving networking industry consolidation

Juniper’s advanced Mist AIOps platform appears to be a central asset in this acquisition, with the settlement specifically addressing access to this technology.