HPE says that it’s not holding acquisition talks with Nutanix

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. on Friday stated that it’s not holding acquisition talks with Nutanix Inc., two months after rumors first emerged about a potential buyout.

An HPE spokesperson told CRN in a statement that “there are no discussions with Nutanix.” The development was first reported on Thursday by Dealreporter.

Shares of Nutanix declined nearly 8% in trading following HPE’s statement. 

The acquisition rumors surrounding Nutanix first emerged in October, when sources told the Wall Street Journal that the company had begun exploring a sale. Earlier this month, Bloomberg reported that HPE expressed interest in buying Nutanix. However, Bloomberg’s sources cautioned that the companies may not succeed in agreeing on an acquisition price. 

San Jose, California-based Nutanix develops software for powering hyperconverged infrastructure, or HCI, appliances. An HCI appliance combines compute, storage and network components in a single chassis along with management software. Such systems are designed to be easier to deploy and manage than traditional data center equipment.

To help companies manage the compute component of their HCI systems, Nutanix offers an internally-developed hypervisor dubbed AHV. The company also provides a storage management platform called AOC. A third Nutanix product, Flow, eases networking tasks such as establishing connections between applications.

Besides powering on-premises infrastructure, Nutanix also helps customers manage their public cloud environments. The company offers a version of its software that can be used to centrally manage cloud infrastructure resources. 

In 2019, Nutanix partnered with HPE to make several of its software tools available through the latter company’s GreenLake platform. The companies also collaborate in other areas. HPE makes multiple hyperconverged infrastructure systems on which companies can install Nutanix software to ease their data center operations.

HPE posted adjusted earnings of $0.57 per share on $7.9 billion in revenue last quarter. Nutanix, in turn, reported a $0.43 per share loss on revenues of $433.6 million. 

Although the companies are no longer holding acquisition talks , the prospect of a sale might not be off the table. When rumors first emerged in October that Nutanix had begun exploring a sale, it was reported the company may target private equity firms as part of the effort. 

Private equity firms have acquired multiple players in the enterprise software market over the past year. Earlier this month, business spend management provider Coupa Inc. agreed to be acquired by Thoma Bravo for $8 billion. Previously, Vista Equity Partners inked a $4.6 billion deal to buy KnowBe4 Inc., a major provider of cybersecurity training software. 

Photo: Nutanix