HPE in 'advanced' talks to buy Juniper Networks for $13bn: report

Hewlett Packard Enterprise is in advanced talks to buy networking heavyweight Juniper Networks in a deal that could be valued at about $13bn, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal Monday evening.

The Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, reported that the deal between the two companies could be announced as early as this week if talks don't fall apart.

A spokesperson for HPE said the company's policy is to not comment on market rumours or speculation.

Juniper Networks, which had a market cap of $9.64bn as of Monday compared with HPE's $23bn, did not respond to CRN US's request for comment on the reported deal before publication time.

Sunnyvale, California-based Juniper Networks, whose strength has historically been with the service provider segment, has more recently seen its enterprise networking business outpace its dominant service provider segment thanks to the company's transformation around software and injecting artificial intelligence into more places in the network. The company today is leading with its AI-powered Juniper Mist platform, which competes against Cisco Meraki and HPE Aruba's Edge Services Platform (ESP).

HPE has been on a tear in recent years, becoming a wired and wireless networking juggernaut. The company in 2015 bought wireless specialist Aruba Networks, now HPE Aruba Networking, for $3bn, which put the firm on a better path to compete with Cisco Systems.

Juniper Networks in October revealed that it was conducting a round of layoffs worldwide and carrying out a $59m restructuring plan as the company realigns around its "long-term growth opportunities."

Juniper's stock jumped about 22 per cent to $36.98 in after-hours trading on Monday evening. HPE's stock was down about 7.67 per cent to $16.36.