IBM Plans to Buy Confluent for $11 Billion as it Seeks to Increase Its Data Offerings

IBM plans to buy Confluent for $11 billion in cash as part of its push to expand its data offerings and automation products. This move comes as more companies are shifting their tech operations to the cloud and rolling out AI technology, which relies heavily on processing large streams of data in real time.

The tech giant is offering $31 for each Confluent share, which is about 50% higher than Confluent’s stock price before the deal was announced on Friday. Confluent is known for its platform that helps businesses manage real-time data streams, a critical need as AI products require fast, continuous data exchange to run effectively.

IBM says Confluent’s technology will fit right into its existing lineup of data and automation tools. It expects this deal to boost its earnings and free cash flow within two years after closing. This acquisition highlights IBM’s bigger plan to grow its data capabilities and AI-related services.

This isn’t the first time IBM has made a big move in this space recently. In fact, at $11 billion, buying Confluent would be its largest purchase in several years, even bigger than when it bought HashiCorp in 2024. IBM has also been busy making other strategic deals to ride the wave of AI innovation. For example, it struck a deal with AI lab Anthropic to bring the Claude large language model into some of its products. Plus, IBM teamed up with AMD to work on a new system that blends quantum computing with AI-focused chips, and it acquired the data analysis startup Seek AI in June.

All these moves show how IBM plans to buy Confluent to strengthen its position in the cloud and AI era, making sure it stays ahead by boosting its data infrastructure and automation services.

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