The Strategist

IBM acquires data platform Confluent for $11 billion



12/09/2025 - 02:10



International Business Machines Corp. (IBM), based in the US, is buying data management infrastructure company Confluent Inc. for $11 billion, which includes debt, according to Bloomberg. The agency states that this is among IBM's biggest agreements to date, indicating the firm's emphasis on corporate software required for operating real-time artificial intelligence technologies.



Patrick Finnegan via flickr
Patrick Finnegan via flickr
IBM has reached an agreement to purchase Confluent for $31 per share, as stated in a company announcement made on December 8. Bloomberg's estimates place the company's value at around $9.3 billion. The firms anticipate the agreement to finalize by mid-2026.

The AI surge has led to multibillion-dollar agreements in firms developing, training, and employing AI technologies. Confluent, located in California, offers businesses a platform for gathering and examining data in real time.

Companies such as Michelin utilize it to oversee raw and semi-finished product inventories instantly, while Instacart, a grocery delivery service in the US and Canada, has adopted Confluent solutions to establish real-time fraud detection systems and enhance inventory visibility on its platform, as reported by the media.

source: bloomberg.com