IBM to acquire Confluent for $11 billion as tech giant aims to expand AI footprint — Details here

IBM will acquire Confluent on Monday, December 8, in an $11 billion deal aimed at expanding its AI footprint, the tech giant announced in a press release.

“Together, IBM and Confluent will enable businesses to deploy generative and mediated AI better and faster,” IBM chief Arvind Krishna said in the official statement.

“With the acquisition of Confluent, IBM will provide an intelligent data platform specifically designed for AI for enterprise IT,” CEO Krishna added in the statement.

Details of the agreement

IBM will pay $31 per share in cash for all issued and outstanding common shares of Confluent. This represents an enterprise value of $11 billion. According to the statement, Confluent will be acquired with available cash.

The transaction is expected to be completed in mid-2026. The tech giant said the deal will bolster IBM’s AI offerings as it expects global data growth to more than double by 2028.

IBM’s board of directors, Confluent’s board of directors and its independent special committee approved this transaction. The acquisition is subject to Confluent stockholder approval, regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.

Stock market reacts to development

Confluent, whose core product is the Apache Kafka streaming platform, has more than 6,500 customers across major industries and works with Anthropic, Amazon AWS, Google Cloud Platform, Microsoft, Snowflake and others.

He also manages more than 40% of Fortune 500 companies, according to the official statement.

Following the announcement, Confluent’s shares rose around 29% in premarket trading on Monday. The company’s shares closed at $23.14 on Friday.

IBM, on the other hand, is a leading provider of global hybrid cloud and AI and consulting expertise. The company has customers in more than 175 countries.

IBM shares also gained just over 2%, settling at $314.77 on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).