Changes in US stocks | Confluent (CFLT.US), which was acquired by IBM for $11 billion, surged nearly 30% before the market

The Zhitong Finance App learned that on Monday, Confluent (CFLT.US) surged nearly 30% to $29.91 before the market; IBM (IBM.US) fell slightly before the market. According to the news, IBM announced that it will acquire the data streaming platform Confluent with a total enterprise value of about 11 billion US dollars (including debt). The transaction consideration is 31 US dollars per share, and the corresponding equity value is about 9.3 billion US dollars. The acquisition is expected to be completed in mid-2026 and will be one of IBM's largest strategic investments to date to strengthen its enterprise-level software layout in the field of artificial intelligence real-time data processing.

Unlike the recent wave of AI mergers and acquisitions in the industry that focus on data centers and computing power, IBM's acquisition of Confluent focuses on strengthening its capabilities in real-time data streaming software. According to reports, the deal was not achieved overnight, but was based on a five-year cooperation between the two parties. Prior to that, some IBM customers were already able to use Confluent's data streaming platform.