Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) and Juniper Networks have finalised a settlement with the US Department of Justice (DOJ) concerning their previously announced $14bn merger.

The agreement, pending court approval, allows the transaction to proceed by addressing antitrust concerns raised by the DOJ.

As part of the settlement, HPE has committed to sell its “Instant On” global campus and branch wireless local area network (WLAN) business within 180 days to a DOJ-approved buyer. This divestiture encompasses all assets, intellectual property, research and development staff, and customer relationships associated with the business line.

Additionally, HPE must hold an auction to license Juniper’s AI Ops for Mist source code to independent competitors. This licensing is intended to ensure continued competition in the WLAN sector by providing essential technology support on a perpetual, non-exclusive basis.

DOJ Chief of Staff Chad Mizelle said: “This marks another key legal victory from the Department of Justice’s antitrust division. Our attorneys will continue fighting and winning to defend the American people and consumers.”

The DOJ’s lawsuit, filed in January 2025 in the Northern District of California, argued that the merger could significantly reduce competition in the enterprise wireless networking market.

By consolidating market power predominantly between HPE and Cisco Systems, which collectively would control over 70% of the sector, there was concern that it could lead to higher prices and impede technological advancements.

The DOJ emphasised Juniper’s role in driving down costs and enhancing competition in WLAN technology, suggesting that its removal as an independent competitor would negatively impact market dynamics.

HPE announced its intention to acquire Juniper in January 2024 at $40 per share in cash. Through the acquisition, HPE aims to integrate Juniper’s resources and expertise into its existing offerings across networking silicon, systems, and software, aiming to meet complex connectivity requirements.

In complying with settlement terms, HPE will also provide limited access to Juniper’s advanced Mist AIOps technology post-acquisition. This measure seeks to balance competitive market conditions while maintaining value for HPE’s stakeholders.

HPE president and CEO Antonio Neri said: “Our agreement with the DOJ paves the way to close HPE’s acquisition of Juniper Networks and preserves the intended benefits of this deal for our customers and shareholders, while creating greater competition in the global networking market.

“For the first time, customers will now have a modern network architecture alternative that can best support the demands of AI workloads.

“The combination of HPE Aruba Networking and Juniper Networks will provide customers with a comprehensive portfolio of secure, AI-native networking solutions, and accelerate HPE’s ability to grow in the AI data centre, service provider and cloud segments.”