- IBM acquires Confluent for $11 billion in cash ($31 per share).
- IBM plans to expand its offerings in cloud infrastructure, data and artificial intelligence
- Confluent’s total addressable market and revenue increased significantly
IBM has confirmed its intention to acquire data transfer company Confluent in a deal worth $11 billion, equivalent to $31 per share.
The deal values IBM Confluent at about 34% above its previously announced share price and marks an important step in IBM’s strategy to expand its cloud infrastructure, data and artificial intelligence.
Confluent specializes in processing large streams of real-time data from AI workflows, as IBM hopes to create an intelligent data platform for generative and agent AI.
IBM buys Confluent for $11 billion
“With the acquisition of Confluent, IBM will provide an intelligent data platform for enterprise IT, purpose-built for artificial intelligence,” said Arvind Krishna, CEO of IBM.
in one Press releaseIBM cited IDC data suggesting that more than a billion new logic apps could emerge by 2028. “These AI applications and agents need access to connected, reliable data, in real time,” the company wrote.
This comes after a period of significant growth for Confluent. The total addressable market has doubled from $50 billion to $100 billion in the past four years. For the quarter ended September 30, 2025, Confluent reported a 19% year-over-year increase in revenue, following a 20% increase in the previous quarter and 25% before that.
Chief Financial Officer Rohan Sivaram attributed the positive numbers to “the dynamics of its data streaming platform.”
Discussions with IBM about selling the company reportedly began last quarter.
“Since its founding, Confluent has helped companies unlock the full potential of their data and drive innovation in an increasingly complex IT landscape,” CEO Jay Kreps said of the acquisition deal.
IBM expects to complete the transaction in mid-2026.