M&A · Tech · Services-Prepackaged Software
IBM to acquire Confluent, Inc.
Announced Dec 8, 2025 · Closed Mar 17, 2026
Deal value$11.00BEV $11.00B
Premium34.0%To unaffected price
EV / Adj. EBITDA—9.9x EV / Revenue
ConsiderationAll cash$31.00 per share
Transaction
- Acquirer
- IBM (IBM)
- Target
- Confluent, Inc. (CFLT)
- Buyer type
- Strategic
- Offer price per share
- $31.00
- Enterprise value
- $11.00B
- Status
- Closed Mar 17, 2026
Deal protections
- Break fee (target pays)
- $454M · 4.1%
- Reverse fee (buyer pays)
- —
- Go-shop
- No-shop
- Financing
- No financing condition
Advisors
- To the acquirer
- Not disclosed
- To the target
- Morgan Stanley
- Morgan Stanley fee
- $84.0M
Sector context · Tech
- Comparable deals
- 68 in the prior 24 months
- Premium
- 34.0% vs. 37.1% sector median
- EV / Adj. EBITDA
- Sector median 16.5x
- Break fee
- 4.1% vs. 3.0% sector median
Timeline
- AnnouncedDec 8, 2025
- Proxy filedDec 23, 2025
- Definitive proxyJan 9, 2026
- Shareholder voteFeb 12, 2026
- ClosedMar 17, 2026
Valuation · fairness opinions
Analyst price targets$24.00$36.00
Analyst price targets$21.29$31.93
Offer $31.00
Implied value per Confluent, Inc. share by analysis, from Morgan Stanley · DCF discount rate 11.1%–12.8%.