- IBM to acquire Confluent for $11 billion in cash ($31 per share)
- IBM wants to expand its cloud infrastructure, data and artificial intelligence offering
- Confluent’s market and total addressable revenue have increased significantly
IBM has confirmed plans to buy data streaming company Confluent in an $11 billion deal, the equivalent of $31 per share.
The deal sees IBM value Confluent about 34% higher than suggested stock prices before the announcement, and marks an important step in IBM’s strategy to expand cloud infrastructure, data and artificial intelligence offerings.
Confluent, in particular, specializes in managing large streams of real-time data that are present in AI workflows, as IBM hopes to build an intelligent data platform for generative and agent AI.
IBM acquires Confluent for $11 billion
“With the acquisition of Confluent, IBM will provide an intelligent data platform for enterprise IT, designed specifically for AI,” said IBM CEO Arvind Krishna.
In a press release, IBM cited IDC data suggesting that more than one billion new logic applications could emerge by 2028. “These applications, as well as AI agents, need access to connected, trusted data, in real time,” the company wrote.
This comes after a period of significant growth for Confluent. Its total addressable market has doubled from $50 billion to $100 billion in the past four years. In the three months ending September 30, 2025, Confluent reported a 19% year-over-year increase in revenue; this was after a 20% increase the previous quarter and a 25% increase before that.
Chief Financial Officer Rohan Sivaram attributed the positive numbers to “the momentum of [its] data transmission platform.
Talks with IBM about selling the company are believed to have begun during the most recent quarter.
“Since its founding, Confluent has helped organizations unlock the full potential of their data, driving innovation in an increasingly complex IT landscape,” CEO Jay Kreps said of the acquisition deal.
IBM expects to complete the transaction by mid-2026.
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