IBM has announced a definitive agreement to acquire Confluent, Inc., the Mountain View, California-based data streaming pioneer, for $11 billion (€9.46 billion).

The acquisition will deliver an end-to-end platform to connect, process, and govern data for enterprise applications and AI agents.

Confluent’s open-source, real-time platform, built on Apache Kafka®, integrates data across hybrid cloud environments and removes silos essential for generative AI. It serves over 6,500 clients, including 40 percent of the Fortune 500, and partners with AWS, GCP, Microsoft, Anthropic, and Snowflake.

“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,” said Arvind Krishna, IBM chairman, president and CEO.

Jay Kreps, CEO and Co-founder of Confluent, added: “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.”

The deal is structured to be accretive to adjusted EBITDA in year one and free cash flow by year two. Confluent’s platform includes Confluent Cloud, Confluent Platform, WarpStream, and Confluent Private Cloud, enabling flexible deployment across public, private, and hybrid environments.

IBM expects strong synergies across AI, automation, and data products while enhancing operational efficiency through scale and integration. The acquisition is set to close by mid-2026, pending regulatory and shareholder approval.

Discover how IBM plans to leverage Confluent’s platform to power real-time enterprise AI and accelerate digital transformation for global businesses by reading the company’s complete press release.