Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co’s (HPE) US$14 billion deal to buy Juniper Networks Inc, in a move that will expand its presence in networking, will be investigated by the UK’s antitrust watchdog. 

The Competition and Markets Authority said on Wednesday it had started a merger inquiry to look at whether the deal raises any competition concerns. The agency set a Aug 14 deadline to make a call on whether to probe the deal in full.

Juniper, like its bigger rival Cisco Systems Inc, makes networking devices such as routers and switches. Networking is the technology that directs the flow of information between devices and across the internet. 

At the time of the deal announcement, HPE said it would pay US$40 a share in cash for Juniper.  

  - Bloomberg