Overview
- An announcement could come as early as Monday, according to the Wall Street Journal citing unnamed sources.
- Reuters said it could not independently verify the report, and IBM and Confluent did not respond to requests for comment outside business hours.
- Confluent provides technology for managing real-time data streams used across industries, a capability seen as valuable for generative AI and analytics.
- LSEG data put Confluent's market value near $8.09 billion versus roughly $287.84 billion for IBM.
- Reuters previously reported in October that Confluent had engaged an investment bank to explore a sale as buyer interest rose, and IBM has recently focused dealmaking on software, including last year's $6.4 billion HashiCorp acquisition.