International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) entered a merger agreement on December 8, 2025, to acquire Confluent, Inc. (CFLT) in an all-cash deal valued at $11 billion.
IBM will acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Confluent for $31 per share in cash, representing a premium of 33.97% from the stock’s last close.
Confluent is a cloud-native data streaming platform that enables organizations to connect, process, and govern real-time data across their operations. It provides Confluent Cloud and Confluent Platform, built on Apache Kafka, to serve as the foundational infrastructure for data.
IBM is a global leader in hybrid cloud, AI, and consulting, providing integrated software, infrastructure, and services that help organizations modernize operations, unlock data insights, and drive secure digital transformation across industries worldwide.
In October, Reuters reported that Confluent was exploring a sale after attracting acquisition interest. The stock was trading at $20.73 before it was revealed that the company was working with an investment bank on the sale process.
The acquisition of Confluent will be funded entirely with available cash on hand.
The deal is expected to close by the middle of 2026.
IBM is paying 9.08 times sales for Confluent.
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Editor’s Note: Baranjot Kaur contributed to this article