HPE said the acquisition will double its networking business. Credit: Igor Golovniov/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) is expected to secure unconditional EU antitrust approval for its $14bn purchase of networking gear-maker Juniper Networks, according to Reuters, citing people familiar with the matter. 

HPE is offering $40 per share to Juniper shareholders, the companies said in January.

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The European Commission is set to decide on the acquisition by 1 August.

The acquisition comes amid a rapidly developing AI market as companies across the industry increase expenditure to bolster their own AI capabilities. 

HPE said the acquisition will double its networking business and that the company is looking to make use of Juniper’s AI-enabled enterprise networking operations and security. 

Emir Halilovic, research director for telecom technology & software at research company GlobalData, said: “The proposed acquisition will significantly boost HPE’s presence in the telecom network equipment provider ecosystem.

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“On the other hand, it completes the successful transformation of Juniper into technology provider to cloud service providers, telcos and enterprises – with telco likely playing a secondary role for the HPE networking business going forward.” 

The acquisition follows several other major plays in the enterprise IT market, including Broadcom‘s $69bn acquisition of cloud company VMware in November and Cisco’s Splunk acquisition for $28bn in September.

Juniper Networks CEO Rami Rahim said: “AI is here, and it is here in a big way.”

“I believe it is the biggest inflection since the dawn of the Internet itself – with implications for how we live, work and play, as well as the technology we make,” Rahim said.