Global software company IBM has announced the planned acquisition of Confluent, an open-source enterprise data streaming company, at $31 per share, or $11 billion in enterprise value, in a move aimed at strengthening its real-time data infrastructure.
Confluent’s platform enables organizations to connect, process and govern data and events in real time, capabilities IBM described in a news release on Monday as essential for the next wave of AI deployment, as more than 1 billion new operational applications are expected to emerge by 2028. By bringing Confluent into its portfolio, the company plans to integrate applications, analytics and data systems more tightly across hybrid IT environments.
“IBM and Confluent together will enable enterprises to deploy generative and agentic AI better and faster by providing trusted communication and data flow between environments, applications and APIs. Data is spread across public and private clouds, data centers and countless technology providers. With the acquisition of Confluent, IBM will provide the smart data platform for enterprise IT, purpose-built for AI,” IBM CEO Arvind Krishna said in a statement.
The transaction is expected to close by mid 2026, subject to regulatory approvals.
