International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) is buying data-streaming platform Confluent in a bid to bolster its AI offerings.
The deal, worth $11 billion (€9.44bn) in total, will see IBM pay $31 per share in cash, a premium of around 34% on Confluent's Friday closing price.
The transaction is set to be completed by mid-2026, according to a statement released on Monday.
“IBM and Confluent together will enable enterprises to deploy generative and agentic AI better and faster by providing trusted communication and data flow,” said Arvind Krishna, CEO of IBM.
Jay Kreps, CEO of Confluent, added: “We are excited by the potential to join IBM and to accelerate our strategy with IBM’s go-to-market expertise, global scale and extensive portfolio.”
Data streaming platform Confluent is responsible for the technical infrastructure that underpins AI systems.
More specifically, Confluent allows companies to rapidly move and process information, providing technology that will be combined with IBM’s own AI software.
Confluent clients include ticket sales firm Ticketmaster, grocery delivery company Instacart, and tyre manufacturer Michelin.
IBM said on Monday that it expects global data growth to more than double by 2028, amplified by the continued adoption of AI — increasing demands on IT departments.
Under CEO Arvind Krishna, the company has been boosting its AI offerings and acquiring a number of software companies.
Earlier this year, IBM closed its acquisition of cloud firm HashiCorp in a deal valued at $6.4bn (€5.5bn). In its biggest deal to date, IBM also bought software firm Red Hat for about $34bn (€29.18bn) in 2019.
Confluent had a market value of around $8bn (€6.87bn) as of Friday, while IBM’s was around $290bn (€248.93bn).
