More activist investors have taken stakes in tech company Hewlett Packard Enterprise, which has been under pressure for a year by Elliott Management and sorting through a rocky merger process with Juniper Networks.
Irenic Capital is among the new activist funds with positions in HPE, and has discussed its holdings and frustrations with executives, according to people close to the company. Irenic’s specific plans, if it has any, couldn’t be learned.
The firm, which managed $2.4 billion at year-end and is run by investor Adam Katz, didn’t respond to requests for comment. Katz successfully pushed to block the merger of News Corp. and Fox, and is currently waging a campaign against closely held Snap.
Both HPE and Elliott declined to comment.
HPE closed the $16 billion takeover of Juniper, its largest ever, last year after a messy regulatory review that ran 18 months and drew allegations of improper lobbying. Several states are still fighting the merger and could convince a federal judge to order stiffer remedies, though the two companies are now deeply integrated.
Elliott built a $1.5 billion position in HPE last year and pushed behind the scenes for CEO Antonio Neri’s ouster (he stayed) before settling with the company for one agreed-on new board member and the right to appoint another down the road. That right expires in July, and expectations that Elliott will use it — and that more shake-ups will follow — have drawn new activists to the stock, which might help explain a sharp rise in the share price in recent weeks.
Revenue growth at the company had inched along for five years before jumping 14% in 2025. The share price has roughly doubled since Elliott entered.