IBM and Confluent have confirmed a definitive agreement under which IBM will acquire all issued and outstanding Confluent common shares for US$31 per share – valuing the company at US$11 billion.
Confluent’s leading open-source streaming platform connects, processes and governs real-time, reusable data essential for AI deployment.
The acquisition is expected to deliver an end-to-end data platform for businesses to connect, process and govern data for applications and AI agents – with the transaction expected to be accretive to adjusted EBITDA within the first full year and free cash flow in year two, post close.
As industries accelerate Digital Transformation, IDC predicts more than one billion new logical applications by 2028. These applications, along with emerging AI agents, require continuous access to connected, trusted data.
Together, IBM and Confluent say will deliver an end-to-end smart data platform that integrates applications, analytics, data systems and AI agents across hybrid cloud environments.
“IBM and Confluent will enable enterprises to deploy Generative and Agentic AI better and faster by ensuring trusted communication and data flow across environments,” said Arvind Krishna, IBM Chairman, President and CEO. “IBM will provide the smart data platform for enterprise IT, purpose-built for AI.”
“Confluent has empowered organizations to unlock real-time data for innovation,” said Jay Kreps, Confluent CEO and Co-founder. “Joining IBM will accelerate our strategy with global scale and an expanded portfolio.”
Confluent’s streaming capabilities, combined with IBM’s AI infrastructure and Automation software, position the companies to address a TAM that has doubled to US$100 billion in 2025.
