Hewlett Packard Enterprise nears $13 billion deal to buy Juniper Networks- WSJ

(Reuters) – Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:) is in advanced talks to buy network gear maker Juniper Networks (NYSE:) for about $13 billion to bolster the nearly 100-year-old technology company’s artificial intelligence (AI) offerings, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.

A deal between the two companies could be announced as soon as this week, according to the report, citing people familiar with the matter.

Shares in HPE fell 7.7%, while Juniper jumped 21% in extended trading.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise declined to comment on the report, while Juniper Networks did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Last year, server maker HPE said that it was rolling out a cloud computing service designed to power AI systems similar to ChatGPT.

Juniper’s high-performance network and service offerings include routing, switching, Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi), network security, AI-enabled enterprise networking operations (AIOps), and software-defined networking (SDN) technologies.