IBM To Acquire Real-Time Data Leader Confluent In Blockbuster $11B Deal

With AI applications and agents increasing the demand for trusted real-time data, IBM plans to combine the Confluent platform with its AI infrastructure software and automation systems.

IBM has struck a definitive agreement to buy real-time data streaming platform developer Confluent in a deal valued at $11 billion, the companies said Monday.

IBM said that with Confluent’s technology it can provide an “end-to-end platform for businesses to connect, process and govern data for applications and Ai agents.”

IBM is paying $31 per share for all issued and outstanding common shares for publicly held Confluent. That represents a nearly 34 percent premium over the $23.14 closing price for Confluent’s shares on Friday, Dec. 5. On Monday, Confluent shares opened at $29.84 and continue to hover around that price.

“IBM and Confluent together will enable enterprises to deploy generative and agentic AI better and faster by providing trusted communication and data flow between environments, applications and APIs. Data is spread across public and private clouds, datacenters and countless technology providers,” said IBM President and CEO Arvind Krishna, in a press statement announcing the acquisition. “With the acquisition of Confluent, IBM will provide the smart data platform for enterprise IT, purpose-built for AI.”

Confluent, based in Mountain View, Calif., develops a series of products used to collect, process and manage continuous flows of real-time data from multiple sources—data in motion, as Confluent refers to it—for operational applications, data analysis and, more recently, artificial intelligence applications and AI agents.

IBM, in the press statement, noted that IDC estimates that more than 1 billion new logical applications will emerge by 2028. “To fuel meaningful outcomes and drive productivity in operations, these applications, as well as AI agents, need access to connected and trusted data – in real time,” the company said. “IBM and Confluent will enable end-to-end integration of applications, analytics, data systems and AI agents to drive intelligence and resilience in hybrid cloud environments.”

Confluent was founded in 2014 by former LinkedIn engineers Jay Kreps, Jun Rao and Neha Narkhede who developed the Apache Kafka open-source data and event streaming platform that Confluent’s platform is based on.

Today the company’s products include the Confluent Platform, Confluent Cloud for deploying and scaling real-time data streams in the cloud, the Confluent Private Cloud managed service, and the WarpStream platform with a hybrid deployment model. The platform includes technology for data streaming, stream governance, stream processing, connectors, tableflow, streaming agents and the recently introduced Confluent Intelligence.

“The real-time nature of Confluent’s platform is critical for organizations as they leverage data living across all IT environments,” the two companies said in the press statement. “Confluent addresses the challenges of today’s technology and data landscape. Confluent excels at preparing data for AI, keeping it clean and connected across systems and applications, eliminating silos inherent in agentic AI. In the last four years alone, Confluent’s total addressable market has doubled from $50 billion to $100 billion in 2025.”

“Confluent’s real-time data and event streaming capabilities, combined with IBM’s AI infrastructure software and automation offerings, will better position the companies to capture this opportunity,” the companies said, while not disclosing IBM’s detailed plans for Confluent once the acquisition is complete.

Confluent’s Customer Base, Channel Partners

Confluent has more than 6,500 clients, including 40 percent of the Fortune 500, across a broad range of industries.

Confluent also works with a significant number of channel partners and over the last two-plus years has launched partner programs for ISVs, systems integrators, OEMs and MSPs. In July, the company committed to investing $200 million over the next three years to expand the reach and capabilities of its global partner ecosystem.

Confluent also partners with all three cloud hyperscalers, Snowflake and other leading tech companies. IBM, in the acquisition statement, said Confluent’s partnering strategy “is consistent with IBM’s approach to deep industry partnership and working across a broad and open technology ecosystem of application providers, ISVs and hyperscalers.”

“Since its founding, Confluent has helped organizations unlock the full potential of their data, driving innovation in an increasingly complex IT landscape. We are extremely proud of the work we’ve done in providing clients with a real-time data streaming platform for the next era of technology, including generative and agentic AI,” Confluent co-founder and CEO Jay Kreps said in the statement. “We are excited by the potential to join IBM and to accelerate our strategy with IBM’s go-to-market expertise, global scale and extensive portfolio. I look forward to the future we will build together as Confluent becomes part of IBM.”

Confluent went public in June 2021, trading on the Nasdaq market. The company’s shares plunged 32 percent on July 31 after a disappointing earnings report and news that it had lost business from a major customer. In October reports surfaced that Confluent was working with an investment bank on a potential sale with interest from private equity firms and other IT companies.

For the company’s 2025 third quarter, ended Sept. 30, Confluent reported total revenue of $298.5 million, up 19 percent from $250.2 million one year earlier. The company reported a net loss of $66.5 million for the quarter.

The companies expect to close the acquisition by mid-2026. IBM’s board of directors and Confluent’s board of directors, as well as an independent special committee at Confluent, have approved the deal.

The deal is subject to approval by Confluent shareholders, regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. The companies said that Confluent’s largest shareholders and investors, who collectively hold about 62 percent of the company’s outstanding stock, have agreed to vote their shares in favor of the acquisition.

Confluent is just the latest of IBM’s acquisitions in the big data arena. In May IBM bought DataStax, a developer of database, data streaming and application development software, in a bid to expand the data management capabilities of its IBM Watsonx AI product portfolio.