The Department of Justice on Thursday filed a lawsuit to block Hewlett Packard Enterprise's $14 billion acquisition of Juniper Networks. HPE stock and Juniper fell on the news.
The DOJ said that the companies' proposed transaction would eliminate competition, resulting in higher prices, reduced innovation and fewer choices for companies and consumers.
HPE and Juniper compete in the wireless LAN market versus Cisco Systems.
Further, HPE and Juniper Networks responded to the filing with a joint statement.
"We believe the Department of Justice's analysis of this acquisition is fundamentally flawed and we are disappointed in its decision to file a suit attempting to prohibit the closing of the transaction," the two companies said.
"Consistent with the conclusions reached by all other major antitrust regulators who have reviewed the deal, this transaction brings together two complementary networking offerings and will create a networking player with the scope and scale to more effectively compete with global incumbents."
HPE Stock Technical Rating
On the stock market today, HPE stock fell 2.2% to close at 21.19. Juniper stock fell 2.2% to close at 34.38. Cisco stock gained 1.5% to 60.47.
If the deal falls through, HPE would be required to pay Juniper a termination fee of $815 million.
Further, HPE stock has climbed 31% over the last 52 weeks.
Meanwhile, HPE stock holds an IBD Composite Rating of 88 out of a best possible 99, according to IBD Stock Checkup. The score combines five separate proprietary ratings into one rating. The best growth stocks have a Composite Rating of 90 or better.
Follow Reinhardt Krause on Twitter @reinhardtk_tech for updates on artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and cloud computing.
