Latest news with #Neri
Yahoo
07-08-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
HPE got tangled in MAGA conspiracy theories and now its $14 billion merger with Juniper could be thrown out
HPE's $14 billion acquisition faces renewed uncertainty despite DOJ approval, amid online conspiracy theories and political objections. A federal judge may review whether the merger is in the public interest due to controversy over a reversal of the DOJ's position to favor the deal. Also, somehow Laura Loomer is involved, and no one knows why. HPE's stock is down, and CEO Antonio Neri remains under pressure from activist investor Elliott Management, which holds a $1.5 billion long position in the shares. When Hewlett Packard Enterprise CEO Antonio Neri won a reversal from the U.S. Department of Justice, allowing HPE's $14 billion acquisition of Juniper Networks to go ahead, he could have been forgiven for thinking his troubles were behind him. Instead, HPE has been dragged into one of those weird MAGA conspiracy theories that orbit President Trump's White House. Even Laura Loomer, the vituperous online Trump activist, somehow got involved. Given that the DOJ dropped its opposition to the merger (it previously complained it would reduce market competition), Neri could reasonably have expected the federal judge overseeing the litigation to waive the deal through. But because the DOJ's sudden reversal got the gears whirring inside the brains of multiple online sleuths, resulting in an objection letter from Senator Elizabeth Warren, it is suddenly more likely—perhaps not probable, but plausible—that Judge P. Casey Pitts will hold a 'Tunney review' that may overturn the deal. A 'Tunney review' is a judicial proceeding that asks whether a proposed merger is in the public interest. The Tunney Act was created in in the 1970s in reaction to President Nixon's meddling in the M&A market. A negative Tunney review would be a defeat for Neri, who is fending off activist Elliott Management, which bought a $1.5 billion stake in the company and demanded seats on the board in part because it believes HPE stock is being held down by execution errors on Neri's watch. Neri could lose his job if things do not go his way, sources have told Fortune. How did HPE get here? For its part, HPE believes it has done nothing wrong, and that it has simply prevailed in a routine judicial process. 'HPE is confident our acquisition of Juniper Networks is in the public interest and will promote further competition in the enterprise WLAN market,' the company told Fortune. 'The transaction was appropriately approved with certain remedies by the U.S. Department of Justice, and it was unconditionally approved by 13 other antitrust regulators around the world. We respect the role our regulators play in maintaining competitive markets and appreciate the professional and constructive way in which the DOJ engaged with us in approving the deal.' But several online corporate dirt diggers, including Matt Stoller, Francine McKenna, Lever News and Capitol Forum, drew attention to personnel changes at the DOJ immediately prior to its approval of the deal. Two DOJ lawyers on the case appear to have been removed from it, according to Semafor. Now HPE is on the front page of the Wall Street Journal as Exhibit 1 in the narrative that lobbyists are undercutting the MAGA antitrust agenda by making off-the record promises about new jobs in the U.S. (HPE denied that, too.) In a filing on the federal court docket, HPE listed its advisors on the deal. They included what Sen. Warren's letter described as 'MAGA-aligned antitrust thought leader Mike Davis.' It is this person that Stoller and his online colleagues believe is a lobbyist responsible for changing the minds of Attorney General Pam Bondi and her chief of staff, Chad Mizelle, and thus reversing their opposition to the deal. Following that, Loomer used X to insist that HPE had paid consultants allied to President Trump $1 million each to engage in 'influence peddling.' Loomer later deleted the post. Sources previously told Fortune they didn't understand why Loomer was paying attention to the deal. The Lever published a claim that 'In a last-minute effort to save face … intelligence authorities intervened to rubber-stamp the deal because of national security reasons, a claim that never appeared in any of the DOJ and HP's legal briefs.' In fact, HPE did cite national security in its July 7 certification of the proposed judgment approving the deal. (You can see it here on page 2.) The national-security angle is that by combining HPE and Juniper it creates a larger market share for a U.S. company in places where the alternative might be Huawei, which many Western governments regard as a Chinese Communist Party asset. (Huawei has repeatedly denied that allegation.) The next step is up to Judge Pitts. It is not clear cut that Pitts will rubber-stamp the DOJ's decision. Pitts is a Biden appointee who previously worked at a public interest law firm—and he may therefore be sceptical that Trump's DOJ went from fierce opposition to 'whatever' so quickly. His ruling is likely months away. The DOJ told Fortune: 'The Department has consistently reiterated that resolution of this merger was based only on the merits of the transaction,' according to spokesman Gates McGavick. Meanwhile, HPE stock has not reacted well to all the gossip. It remains down 5.7% year to date compared to the S&P 500 which is up 8%. Elliott's stake is a long position—meaning they want shares to rise. And they are more than willing to replace the CEO if they do not get what they want. Hence the pressure on Neri. This story was originally featured on Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
16-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
HPE's deal with activist investor Elliott may still cost CEO Antonio Neri his job—or end with parts of the company being sold
HPE has signed a one-year agreement with Elliott Management in which the activist investor will receive one and maybe two seats on the company's board. HPE's stock has declined more than 5% this year, putting pressure on CEO Antonio Neri to turn the company around. The deal leaves open the door to further management changes at HPE or spinning off parts of the company. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has reached a settlement with Elliott Management in which the activist investor group will receive one and possibly two seats on the board, and its appointee will also chair a new subcommittee of the board that will explore strategic options for the company. Notably, the agreement leaves open the door to the possibility of CEO Antonio Neri losing his job, or selling parts of the company to other investors. The danger for Neri: Since 2022, Elliott has ousted 14 CEOs at companies where it got involved. HPE's stock was down 0.32% on Wednesday, and has lost 5.75% year-to-date. The S&P 500, by contrast, is up 6% over the same period. 'We value the input of all of our shareholders and we have found the interactions with Elliott to be constructive and collaborative,' HPE said in a statement to Fortune. The changes came after Elliott took a $1.5 billion stake in HPE in April and then approached the company, largely to complain about the stock's underperformance over the years. The new board member, chosen by Elliott, is Robert Calderoni, who has 30 years of experience in the tech sector and is currently chairman at KLA Corp. Pat Russo, chair of the HPE board, said in a statement, 'We are pleased to welcome Bob to our Board. His perspectives and experiences will complement those of our existing directors, and I look forward to collaborating closely with him as we work together to drive increasing value for our shareholders.' In the same statement, Jason Genrich, partner and senior portfolio manager at Elliott, said, 'We appreciate the positive dialogue we have had with HPE's Board and see substantial value ahead. We believe Bob's appointment to the Board and his leadership of the new Strategy Committee will help HPE identify meaningful operational and strategic opportunities for shareholder value creation.' Neri was not quoted in HPE's press release. HPE's new Strategy Committee 'will assess the strategies of HPE's businesses and identify opportunities for additional value creation,' the company said in a statement. Notably, statements from both Elliott and HPE mentioned 'value creation' and 'increasing value,' respectively. That is likely a hint that Elliott's next move will hinge on whether Neri can make HPE stock go up. He has one year to do it—Elliott has the right to add another board member if it is still unhappy by that deadline. As Fortune previously reported, Elliott and Calderoni are likely to be looking closely at execution issues within HPE. The company failed to impress investors in Q1 when it was forced to disclose it had screwed up the pricing of its own products, and the company generates far less revenue per employee than peers such as Cisco or Dell. This story was originally featured on Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Time of India
06-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
HPE CEO Antonio Neri comes 'under pressure' from investor with a history of forcing out chief executives
Image credit: LinkedIn Hewlett-Packard Enterprise (HPE) CEO Antonio Neri is reportedly "under pressure" from activist investor Elliott Management, which has a history of forcing out chief executives. Elliott Management 's $1.5 billion stake in HPE, first publicly reported in April, marks a significant investment in the company. Since then, both companies have remained silent regarding any negotiations between them. According to an earlier report by the news agency Reuters, 14 chief executives have been removed from their positions after Elliott acquired a stake in their companies and initiated discussions with their boards. HPE recently saw its stock value decline after failing to identify an error in its inventory pricing. Despite Elliott's investment being known to be a long position and not a short bet against the company, clues regarding demands from HPE are reportedly evident. What HPE said about its relationship with investor Elliott Management In a brief statement to Fortune, HPE said: 'We value the constructive input of all of our shareholders,' however, it didn't mention any specifics. The indication of trouble came in March when HPE released its Q1 earnings, causing its stock to drop nearly 16% in a single day. In a CNBC interview, CEO Antonio Neri acknowledged that the company had miscalculated inventory costs, which negatively impacted profitability and wiped more than $3 billion off HPE's market cap. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Is it better to shower in the morning or at night? Here's what a microbiologist says CNA Read More Undo 'Near the end of the quarter, we realised that the cost of our inventory was slightly higher than the cost that we had in the pricing. That's on us. That should never happen,' Neri noted. When news emerged that Elliott sought influence over HPE, JPMorgan analyst Samik Chatterjee suggested the firm likely aimed to address HPE's stock valuation gap and improve operational efficiency. He also highlighted HPE's lagging performance, noting it generated $494,000 in revenue per employee, significantly less than Dell's $885,000. HPE shares recently rose after the DOJ dropped its probe into the Juniper Networks acquisition, but the stock is still up only 48% since 2018, well behind the S&P 500's 135% gain. Despite being in the AI era, HPE's performance has lagged, raising concerns about its leadership, with CEO Antonio Neri in charge for seven-half years and the board serving for over a decade, the report notes. While some see a leadership shakeup as overdue, Elliott may instead seek a board seat and push for strategic changes through collaboration rather than a shareholder proxy fight. iOS 26 Beta 2 Hands-On: Apple Finally Does It AI Masterclass for Students. Upskill Young Ones Today!– Join Now
Time of India
03-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
HPE closes $14 bn acquisition of Juniper Networks to pursue AI, data center opportunities
NEW DELHI: Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) on Wednesday closed the $14-billion all-cash acquisition of Juniper Networks , following receiving a key regulatory approval in the US, to pursue artificial intelligence (AI)-driven networking business opportunities, and compete strongly with its domestic counterpart Cisco. 'The combination positions HPE to capture the growing AI and hybrid cloud market opportunity by creating an industry-leading cloud-native and AI-driven IT portfolio, including a full, modern networking stack,' HPE said in a statement. The Texas-headquartered server maker said that the 'transaction doubles the size of HPE's networking business', adding that it also accelerates the company's portfolio mix shift to higher-margin, higher-growth areas and positions the company for 'long-term profitable revenue growth'. 'Today begins a new era for HPE – we are now at the epicenter of the transformation of IT, where AI and networking are converging,' said Antonio Neri , president and CEO of HPE. In addition to positioning HPE to offer a modern network architecture and products across hybrid Cloud, AI and networking, the acquisition accelerates the company's 'profitable growth strategy' and expands its total addressable market into adjacent areas, including data center, firewalls, and routers, Neri added. 'HPE and Juniper have a unique opportunity to disrupt the networking industry at the most important and relevant time,' said Rami Rahim , former CEO of Juniper Networks, who will now lead the combined HPE Networking business as its president and general manager (GM). 'I am a technologist at heart and when I look at the opportunity here to combine technologies and teams to compete, not just with Cisco, but with this very vibrant, very competitive landscape, it's incredibly exhilarating to me,' Rahim said during a press conference, SDxCentral reported. The acquisition of Juniper's high-margin business is expected to be accretive in the near- and long-term for the combined company. The transaction will be accretive to non-GAAP EPS in the first post-close, with the combined networking business contributing more than 50% of total company operating income, according to the statement. The US Justice Department recently settled its lawsuit challenging HPE's acquisition of Juniper . The settlement requires the combined company to divest HPE's Instant On wireless networking business and license the source code for Juniper's Mist AI software used in Juniper's wireless local network (WLAN) products. HPE had announced the acquisition more than a year ago, saying it would enhance its AI offerings. The acquisition was approved by Juniper shareholders on April 2, 2024. With the completion of the transaction, shares of Juniper's common stock, which traded on the NYSE under the symbol 'JNPR,' have ceased trading and will no longer be listed on the stock exchange. Datadog Inc separately said it will replace Juniper Networks in the S&P 500 effective prior to the opening of trading on Wednesday, July 9. For the quarter ended April 30, HPE posted revenue of $7.63 billion. It has forecasted a third-quarter revenue between $8.2 billion and $8.5 billion
Yahoo
25-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
HPE CEO pushes back on tech slowdown fears despite signs of caution from CIOs
Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) CEO Antonio Neri said there has been no slowdown in IT spending. "Momentum is across all business lines," Neri told Yahoo Finance while speaking at the company's annual Discover Conference in Las Vegas. He noted that networking solutions, a part of HPE's core offerings, are needed to deploy more AI and cloud applications. "We see that growth in our orders, and now in our revenue," he added. Neri also pointed to continued growth in enterprise demand, particularly around AI and hybrid cloud services. He highlighted HPE's deepening partnership with Nvidia (NVDA) to expand so-called AI factories — infrastructure needed to build, deploy, and scale AI models — as a key driver for growth. But the view from CIOs may be more cautious. According to a new report from KeyBanc Capital Markets, IT budget expectations have slipped. The firm now forecasts IT budgets to grow just 2.7% in 2025, down from 3.9% at the start of the year. If that holds, it would mark the slowest IT budget growth period since 2020. The firm noted broader restraint in the sector. Software vendors are seeing increased scrutiny, and IT hiring plans have scaled back. Major tech employers like Google's parent company, Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL), and Salesforce (CRM) have reduced headcounts following a post-pandemic hiring spree. In March, HPE announced a cost-cutting plan targeting $350 million in savings by 2027, primarily through workforce reductions. Tariff-related uncertainty has also weighed on IT. While KeyBanc initially expected 33% of CIOs to say they are being impacted, 42% now report a negative effect. Still, only 19% said they've delayed spending, suggesting companies are cautious but not pulling back entirely. HPE beat Wall Street's expectations in its fiscal second quarter, with revenue of $7.6 billion, up 6% year over year, and adjusted earnings per share of $0.38, down 10% year over year. Its intelligent edge segment, which includes networking, had a 7% jump in revenue compared to the prior year, and the hybrid cloud segment grew 13%. The company's pressured server business was responsible for the bulk of its sales at $4.1 billion, a 6% increase over the prior year. Meanwhile, HPE is facing a lawsuit from the Department of Justice over its proposed $14 billion Juniper Networks (JNPR) acquisition, with a trial set to begin on July 9. HPE first announced the deal in January 2024. The DOJ blocked the move due to concerns that it would reduce competition and stifle innovation. Neri remains optimistic. "We believe we will prevail in court if we go all the way there," he said. Francisco Velasquez is an associate reporter at Yahoo Finance. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
