News
If it goes ahead, the deal would be HPE’s biggest acquisition since its purchase of software firm Autonomy in 2011 for $11.7 billion
According to a report from Reuters, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) is in late-stage discussions to purchase Juniper Networks in a deal that could be worth $13 billion.
According to the report, the deal could be finalised as early as this week.
HPE’s acquisition of Juniper Networks is seeming to better position HPE in the rapidly growing AI market.
While the company is primarily known for its data centre equipment vendor and for its cloud services, the company is increasingly venturing into the AI space, notably being contracted by the UK government to build the country’s most powerful AI supercomputer.
Last year, the company launched a cloud computing service that is designed to power AI systems similar to ChatGPT, putting them in more direct competition with the likes of Amazon, Microsoft and Google.
Juniper Networks, meanwhile, has a significant presence in the AI industry, offering an AI service called Mist AI, which optimises users’ wireless experiences through the use of machine learning algorithms.
At present, neither company has commented on media report.
Upon the news, HPE shares fell 7.7%, while Juniper jumped 21% in extended trading.
In October last year, Juniper Networks announced plans to lay off 440 employees, as a part of a company-wide restructuring plan, at a cost of $59 million. The job cuts, which will amount to 4% of total employees, are expected to be completed by the end of this quarter. The news came after Juniper shared its less-than-favourable Q2 results, which saw a large revenue decrease of 78% year-on-year.
“We expect the macro-economic environment to remain challenged, which may continue to impact customer spending,” the company noted. “These factors are negatively impacting our revenue expectations.”
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