IBM Spends $11 Billion on Confluent to Build Its AI ‘Intelligent Data Platform’

IBM has agreed to acquire Confluent for $31 per share in cash, in an all-cash deal valued at approximately $11 billion, a move that follows its earlier acquisitions of Red Hat and HashiCorp to bolster hybrid cloud and data infrastructure. Confluent, based in Mountain View, California, runs atop Apache Kafka and serves more than 6,500 customers, including 40% of the Fortune 500, with offerings that manage, connect and analyse real-time data streams.

IBM’s chair and CEO Arvind Krishna framed the deal as a step to tackle data silos across public and private clouds and on‑premises, creating a foundation for an AI-native intelligent data platform. The transaction, which has already been approved by IBM’s board and Confluent’s independent special committee, is expected to close in mid-2026 subject to shareholder approval and regulatory clearance.

The deal positions IBM to deepen its hybrid-cloud and enterprise AI capabilities by deeply integrating Confluent’s Kafka and Flink technologies into its product ecosystem. According to newsroom.ibm[.]com, the acquisition marks another high‑growth software addition as IBM seeks momentum in its software and services portfolio.