Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s $14 billion acquisition of Juniper Networks is “expected to secure unconditional EU antitrust approval” from the European Commission, according to a report from Reuters.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s $14 billion acquisition of Juniper Networks is “expected to secure unconditional EU antitrust approval” from the European Commission, according to a report from Reuters citing unnamed people “familiar with the matter.”

HPE declined to comment on the report.

CRN also reached out to Juniper Networks and the European Commission but had not heard back at press time.

The European Commission has a deadline of Aug. 1 to either approve the HPE acquisition of Juniper, which was announced in January, or open a full-scale investigation into the deal.

The merger has been approved by both HPE and Juniper board of directors as well as shareholders.

The blockbuster HPE-Juniper deal sets up a battle for network supremacy in the AI era between HPE Juniper and market leader Cisco Systems, which has dominated the networking market since the mid-1990s.

HPE CEO Antonio Neri has said that the deal represents an “important inflection point in the industry and will change the dynamics in the networking market” by providing customers and partners with a “new alternative.”

In a blog post in February, Neri said the acquisition is aimed at disrupting the networking “status quo” with a new modern AI-driven networking fabric.

“We are pursuing this acquisition because we believe the combination of HPE and Juniper Networks will radically change the networking industry – not by eliminating products from either portfolio – but by creating greater choice in this sector,” said Neri. “The incredible thing about a combination like this one is that there are strong offerings on both sides and by bringing them together, we will be accelerating value and flexibility for all of our customers.”

Neri said the new “combined business will create a new full-service networking company, with a customer-centric approach to product development and a comprehensive portfolio that delivers value for our customers.”

Partners Looking Forward To Hearing Details On Combining Networking Portfolio

Chris Miller, CTO of Advizex, a Fulcrum IT Partners company that has made significant AI solution investments, said his team is looking forward to hearing more about the HPE-Juniper plans for combining their respective networking portfolios.

“HPE and Juniper have been very quiet about what they are planning,” he said. “More than anything we are excited to hear about the future plans. HPE already has a very strong AI story and this is going to add to it.”

Miller said he is particularly interested in hearing about the plans for Juniper’s Mist AI offering and whether HPE will leverage that platform to make self-healing networks a reality.

Furthermore, he is interested in seeing whether HPE and Juniper will go forward with a specialized offering or an all-encompassing networking solution.

Miller said he would like to see HPE move forward with the combined offering as a GreenLake consumption-based service. “We are seeing a lot more demand from customers for consumption services,” he said. “This could be a way for us to offer Juniper as a consumption offering.”

‘Ready To Go And Excited’ About The Combination

Patrick Shelley, CTO at PKA Technologies, Montvale, N.J., a top HPE partner, said PKA is moving full steam ahead with its Juniper Networks certifications as a result of the blockbuster deal.

“We just got one of our engineers certified on Juniper,” he said. “There has been months and months of speculation on how the combined portfolio will come together. We have customers asking about it and all our engineers are wondering what will happen here. It’s great to see the regulatory process moving forward. We are excited to hear more details about the merger. We are certified, ready to go and excited to communicate what the new (HPE Juniper) portfolio will look like and get our hands dirty working with the new product portfolio.”

Shelley said the big question is exactly what the vision is around bringing the two portfolios together. “We are anxious to see whether they are going to create a new product line or integrating Mist into the HPE portfolio? The question is how do you combine the two portfolios into a new AI era networking portfolio? We are constantly being asked by customers on how this is going to ultimately play out.”

The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is also looking into the potential impacts of the HPE-Juniper deal.

The CMA has set a deadline of Aug. 14 to decide whether to approve the deal or progress the investigation to a formal “phase 2” inquiry that would spawn a deeper investigation.

Importantly, it is unlikely that the deal will need China’s approval as it falls below the Chinese merger threshold. But the U.S. Federal Trade Commission will still likely scrutinize the merger.

HPE has said it expects to finalize the acquisition of Juniper Networks in late 2024 or early 2025.

At the recent HPE Discover Partner Summit, HPE CEO Antonio Neri urged partners to stay focused on selling the HPE Aruba networking platform and not become distracted by the acquisition.

“We need to stay focused as we close the transaction with Juniper,” he said. “Stay focused on the business. Don’t delay anything. Keep going! The Aruba platform is phenomenal…The innovation is beyond amazing!”