Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) is in the late stages of talks to buy California networking hardware maker Juniper Networks for $13 billion, according to reports.

The deal – which would be HPE's biggest acquisition since [1]Autonomy in 2011 and [2]EDS in 2008 – could be announced as early as this week, [3]the Wall Street Journal reported.

In addition to selling network hardware including routers and switches, Juniper Networks also operates Mist Systems and its Mist AI platform, a competitor to Cisco Meraki and HPE's Aruba's Edge Services Platform. Buying Juniper, and consequently Mist, would bolster HPE's offshoot's AI segment.

[4]

Earlier this month, HPE CEO Antonio Neri [5]said AI's impact on enterprises could not be "overstated." Neri pitched an "AI native" strategy for the company as a method to remain relevant.

[6]

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During a keynote at HPE's Discover event in Barcelona, Neri predictably referred to AI as "the most disruptive technology of our lifetime."

Now might not be a bad time for HPE to reinforce its networking armory, after it [8]reported a dramatic decline of 31 percent year-on-year in server revenues - its largest division - in Q4 of its fiscal 2023. The Intelligent Edge networking unit was one of the areas where HPE grew sales, up 40 percent year-on-year, as was the AI and HPC unit grew 37 percent.

[9]

Juniper Networks CEO Rami Rahim said in the company's [10]latest earnings call [PDF] that revenue from the Mystified segment, which includes Mist AI, "had a record quarter, growing by nearly 100 percent year-over-year in the Q3 time frame."

[11]Nvidia revenue explodes, led by datacenter products and … InfiniBand?

[12]Your password hygiene remains atrocious, says NordPass

[13]Juniper makes 440 redundant to pursue better margins

[14]Marvell disputes claim Cavium backdoored chips for Uncle Sam

"Our Mystified orders also achieved a notable milestone in Q3, surpassing a $1 billion run rate on an annualized basis less than four years after crossing the $100 million run rate milestone in Q4 2019," he added.

In October, Juniper Networks [15]let go of 440 staff as part of a restructuring plan that it said would "focus on realigning resources and investments in long-term growth opportunities."

Those layoffs seemed to focus on IT, engineering and sales roles.

The Register approached HPE and Juniper Networks for comment and will update if a substantial reply materializes. ®

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[1] https://www.theregister.com/2012/11/20/hp_alleges_autonomy_fraud/

[2] https://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/press/2008/080826xa.html

[3] https://www.wsj.com/business/deals/hewlett-packard-enterprise-near-deal-to-buy-juniper-networks-6995a464

[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZZ0nVOkNA7D89yBABjtDEgAAAMc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0

[5] https://www.theregister.com/2023/12/01/hpe_talks_up_ai_some/

[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZZ0nVOkNA7D89yBABjtDEgAAAMc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0

[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZZ0nVOkNA7D89yBABjtDEgAAAMc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0

[8] https://www.theregister.com/2023/11/29/hpe_fiscal_2023/

[9] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZZ0nVOkNA7D89yBABjtDEgAAAMc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0

[10] https://s1.q4cdn.com/608738804/files/doc_financials/2023/q3/jnpr-usq_transcript_2023-10-26-final.pdf

[11] https://www.theregister.com/2023/11/22/nvidia_q3_2023/

[12] https://www.theregister.com/2023/11/20/your_password_hygiene_is_still/

[13] https://www.theregister.com/2023/10/06/juniper_redundancies/

[14] https://www.theregister.com/2023/09/19/marvell_disputes_claim_that_cavium/

[15] https://www.theregister.com/2023/10/06/juniper_redundancies/

[16] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/