IBM’s $11 Billion Confluent Acquisition: How Real‑Time Data Supercharges Its AI and Cloud Strategy
IBM has agreed to acquire data‑streaming specialist Confluent in an all‑cash deal valued at $11 billion, in what is shaping up to be one of the defining AI and cloud infrastructure deals of 2025. The transaction, announced on December 8, 2025, will see IBM pay $31 per share for all outstanding Confluent stock, implying an enterprise value of around $11 billion and marking its largest software acquisition since Red Hat in 2019. IBM Newsroom+1 The move is central to IBM’s pitch that the next phase of enterprise AI will be won not just with large models, but with the plumbing