January 8, 2024 – 8:34 PM EST
(Reuters) – Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE.N) is in talks to buy Juniper Networks (JNPR.N) in a deal valuing the network gear maker at about $13 billion, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters on Monday.
A deal between the two companies could be announced as early as this week, the source said.
Shares of Hewlett Packard fell 7.7%, while Juniper jumped 21% in extended trading.
The deal would help bolster the nearly 100-year-old technology company’s artificial intelligence (AI) offerings, according to a WSJ report earlier in the day.
Hewlett Packard declined to comment on the WSJ report, while Juniper Networks did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Last year, server maker HPE said 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.
Reporting by Shivani Tanna and Jyoti Narayan in Bengaluru, Anirban Sen in New York; Editing by Maju Samuel, Rashmi Aich and Sherry Jacob-Phillips
