HPE Completes $13.4B Juniper Networks Acquisition, CEO Antonio Neri Calls It Start Of A ‘New Era’

‘Today begins a new era for HPE – we are now at the epicenter of the transformation of IT, where AI and networking are converging,’ says HPE CEO Antonio Neri.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s long road to complete its $13.4 billion acquisition of Juniper Networks ended Wednesday with what HPE called the “successful completion” of the blockbuster deal.

The closing of the acquisition comes just four days after the U.S. Department of Justice agreed to settle the lawsuit challenging the acquisition which was announced by HPE 18 months ago.

Juniper is now a wholly owned subsidiary of HPE.

“Today begins a new era for HPE – we are now at the epicenter of the transformation of IT, where AI and networking are converging,” said HPE CEO Antonio Neri in a prepared statement heralding the completion of the deal. “In addition to positioning HPE to offer our customers a modern network architecture alternative and an even more differentiated and complete portfolio across hybrid cloud, AI, and networking, this combination accelerates our profitable growth strategy as we deepen our customer relevance and expand our total addressable market into attractive adjacent areas. We look forward to welcoming the Juniper team to HPE.”

Rami Rahim, the former CEO of Juniper Networks, who will now lead the combined HPE Juniper networking business, said the deal provides a “unique opportunity to disrupt the networking industry at the most important and relevant” time. “Together, we’ll be able to provide customers and partners with a secure network that is purpose-built with AI and for AI,” he said.

HPE said the deal accelerates its “strategic vision with a full networking IP stack: from silicon, to hardware, to the operating system, to security, to software and services, with a cloud-native and AI-driven approach.”

In fact, HPE predicted the integration of the two companies “will accelerate customers’ deployment and adoption of both hybrid cloud and AI.”

HPE partners for their part, said they are moving fast to present a combined HPE-Juniper networking portfolio from the branch and campus to the data center as an AI networking alternative to Cisco.

Bob Panos, president of American Digital, Schaumburg, Ill., which was just named HPE North America Solution Provider of the Year at HPE Discover, said the quick closing of the deal in the wake of the settlement with the DOJ is a testament to HPE’s drive to move quickly to capitalize on the AI networking opportunity.

“I love the speed HPE is moving at,” he said. “It shows how prepared they were to make this happen and how totally committed they are to this.”

American Digital is also “moving fast” to present the full HPE-Juniper Networks AI networking stack to customers. “We have already been working with Juniper in preparation for this,” he said. “We also want to hit the ground running. We signed up with Juniper last year in anticipation of this. We didn’t wait for it to happen. The fact they pulled the trigger so quickly here shows me they are ready to forge ahead.”

Panos said he expects American Digital’s data center networking business to soar in the wake of the acquisition. “We made the investment in the combined portfolio and we expect it to pay off,” he said. “We already have several Juniper opportunities. We have been watching and anticipating with the close of the deal. We wanted to do the business on HPE paper.”

C.R. Howdyshell, CEO of Advizex, No. 129 on the CRN 2025 Solution Provider 500, a Fulcrum IT Partners company, said his sales teams are already working with HPE and Juniper to drive networking as a service sales growth.

“We already have a concerted effort in place with our sales teams pulling this all together,” he said. “We have already been meeting with the Aruba and Juniper teams in various regions to get the ball rolling.”

Howdyshell said there is a “feeling of excitement and optimism” surrounding the deal, especially from the Juniper Networks team. “They see the opportunity to scale the business with HPE,” he said.

Howdyshell complimented the DOJ for settling the case and making the “best decision” for the IT industry. “This is a win for customers, the channel, and the entire HPE ecosystem,” he said. This is going to open up incremental opportunities for partners like Advizex. I am not sure people understand the full potential of this deal. It is a game changer. It is going to change how we do business and go to market.”

Howdyshell said the deal opens the door to a new era of choice in the networking market with two strong companies: HPE-Juniper and Cisco. “This provides all customers with a choice,” he said. “They are going to welcome the competition.”

As for the impact on Advizex, Howdyshell called it a “big boost” to the company’s business with the ability to now provide a “next-generation AI networking solution” in an Advizex pay-per-use model.

HPE shares have soared nearly 13 percent in the wake of the DOJ settlement to the completion of the deal from $18.41 on June 27 to $20.75 in early trading on Wednesday.