IBM announced today it will acquire data-streaming pioneer Confluent for $31 per share in cash — valuing the company at roughly $11 billion. The agreement, approved by both boards, is expected to close by mid-2026 pending shareholder and regulatory approval.
Confluent’s open-source enterprise data streaming platform, built on Apache Kafka, enables real-time data and event streaming, data governance, and stream processing across public clouds, private clouds, and on-premises environments. With more than 6,500 clients — including over 40% of the Fortune 500 — Confluent supports mission-critical data flows for analytics, applications, and AI models.
IBM expects the acquisition to accelerate enterprise AI adoption by unifying data, applications, analytics, and AI agents. CEO Arvind Krishna said the combined firm will provide a “smart data platform for enterprise IT, purpose-built for AI.” The move aligns with projections that global data volumes will more than double by 2028 and over one billion new logical applications will emerge.
IBM says the acquisition complements its Data and Automation portfolio and builds on its open-source legacy, following deals such as Red Hat and HashiCorp. The company anticipates the deal will be accretive to adjusted EBITDA within the first year post-close and improve free cash flow by year two, while boosting product synergies across its hybrid-cloud, data, and AI offerings.
The acquisition follows other recent IBM initiatives that expand its AI and security ambitions. The company recently unveiled an AI model built for secure defense and national-security operations. It also announced a collaboration with Anthropic to integrate secure AI capabilities into enterprise software development. Together with Confluent, these moves underscore IBM’s push to deliver data-driven, secure, enterprise-grade AI infrastructure and services.
