Transaction Details and Approvals
Under the terms of the agreement, which has been unanimously approved by the Boards of Directors of HPE and Juniper, Juniper shareholders will receive $40.00 per share in cash upon the completion of the transaction. The purchase price represents a premium of approximately 32% to the unaffected closing price of Juniper’s common stock on January 8, 2024, the last full trading day prior to media reports regarding a possible transaction.
The transaction is expected to be funded based on financing commitments for $14 billion in term loans. Such financing will ultimately be replaced, in part, with a combination of new debt, mandatory convertible preferred securities, and cash on the balance sheet. The transaction is currently expected to close in late calendar year 2024 or early calendar year 2025, subject to receipt of regulatory approvals, approval of the transaction by Juniper shareholders, and satisfaction of other customary closing conditions.
The combination is expected to achieve operating efficiencies and run-rate annual cost synergies of $450 million within 36 months post close. Strong growth in free cash flow, along with maintenance of capital allocation policies, are expected to provide sufficient room to reduce leverage to approximately 2x in two years post close. Following the completion of the transaction, HPE will continue its innovation and go-to-market investments in its networking business, one of its growth engines.
Advisors
J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and Qatalyst Partners are serving as HPE’s financial advisors. Committed financing for the transaction has been provided by Citigroup Global Markets Inc., JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. and Mizuho Bank, Ltd. Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, Covington & Burling LLP, and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP are serving as legal counsel. Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC is serving as Juniper’s exclusive financial advisor and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom is serving as legal counsel.
Conference Call Details
HPE and Juniper will host a conference call tomorrow at 7:30 a.m. CT (8:30 a.m. ET) to discuss the announcement. The call will include a slide presentation and participants are encouraged to view the presentation via webcast at http://www.hpe.com/investor/HPE-To-Acquire-Juniper-Conference-Call.
About Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE: HPE) is the global edge-to-cloud company that helps organizations accelerate outcomes by unlocking value from all of their data, everywhere. Built on decades of reimagining the future and innovating to advance the way people live and work, HPE delivers unique, open and intelligent technology solutions as a service. With offerings spanning Cloud Services, Compute, High Performance Computing & AI, Intelligent Edge, Software, and Storage, HPE provides a consistent experience across all clouds and edges, helping customers develop new business models, engage in new ways, and increase operational performance. For more information, visit: www.hpe.com.