We are excited to announce that Confluent has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by IBM. After the transaction is closed (subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals), together, IBM and Confluent will aim to provide a platform that unifies the world’s largest enterprises, unlocking data for cloud/microservices, accelerating time-to-value, and building the real-time data foundation required to scale AI across every organization.
The below email was shared earlier today from Jay Kreps, CEO and Co-Founder of Confluent to our Confluent team.
We want to thank our team members for their continued hard work and dedication that defined a new category of data streaming and paved the way for this next chapter. We look forward to their ongoing contributions as a part of IBM after the transaction closes. For more information, please see the announcement press release (click to view).
Confluent Team,
I’m excited to share that a few moments ago, we announced that Confluent has signed an agreement to be acquired by IBM in an all cash deal for $31.00 per share. Confluent will continue to operate as a distinct brand and business within IBM post-close.
Later this morning, December 8, at 9 a.m. PT and again in the evening at 7 p.m. PT, we will have a Company All Hands meeting, where I will share details about this announcement and answer your questions, alongside the rest of the executive team. In the meantime, we have a FAQ in the wiki with some more details. I know this may be surprising so I wanted to take the time to walk you through why this is the best path for Confluent.
In the letter I wrote at our IPO in 2021, I said that “There is a saying that a fox knows many things, but a hedgehog knows one big thing--Confluent is a company that knows a very big thing” and that rings true for me today.
Data is at the heart of what companies need to do to harness AI, modernize their operations, and build the next generation of applications; and Confluent is at the heart of what companies need to harness their data. This has been our goal in the team we’ve built, the products we’ve shipped, and the customer relationships we’ve cultivated. That conviction has only grown stronger.
IBM sees the same future we do: one in which enterprises run on continuous, event-driven intelligence, with data moving freely and reliably across every part of the business. They see that this connective layer will define how companies operate for decades to come, they understand open source and its power, and they work with some of the largest hybrid enterprises in the world. By joining forces, we can bring this architecture to far more organizations, accelerating the shift toward real-time and AI-powered operations globally.
IBM also has a long history of supporting open source and has demonstrated real leadership in this area with their prior acquisitions of Red Hat and HashiCorp. Our shared values of technical leadership, customer trust, and the belief that data is foundational to the next generation of AI is a big part of why I'm excited.
Becoming part of IBM won’t change Confluent’s mission; it will amplify it. The idea that sparked Kafka, grew into Confluent, and shaped an entire new category of data infrastructure now enters a phase where it can scale even more broadly and meaningfully.
Serving as CEO and leading this team over the past eleven years has been and continues to be the great privilege of my career. I’m profoundly proud of what we’ve built—the products, the technology, and equally important, the culture that has defined Confluent from the very beginning. Your passion, your talent, and your unwavering commitment have been a constant source of energy and inspiration. There isn’t a group I’d be happier to be in the trenches with, and I could not be more excited about this next chapter.
We’re still pretty early in this process, so there are many details that still need to be figured out. Until the deal officially closes (subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals, which we expect by the middle of 2026), Confluent will continue to operate as a separate, independent company, and our priorities remain the same. I’m committed to being as transparent as possible throughout the coming months to keep you informed and up-to-date on timelines and integration plans. For now, your role, manager, pay, benefits, and our policies stay the same, and we still need to deliver on our Q4 and future commitments to our customers, partners, and team.
Now, more than ever, we’re here to set data in motion.
Thank you,
Jay
Additional Information and Where to Find It
This communication may be deemed to be solicitation material in respect of the proposed acquisition of Confluent, Inc. (the “Company”) by International Business Machines Corporation (“Parent”) pursuant to the Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of December 7, 2025, by and among the Company, Parent and Corvo Merger Sub, Inc. The Company intends to file a preliminary and definitive proxy statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) with respect to a special meeting of stockholders to be held in connection with the proposed acquisition. After filing the definitive proxy statement (the “Proxy Statement”) with the SEC, the Company will mail the Proxy Statement and a proxy card to each stockholder of the Company entitled to vote at the special meeting. The Proxy Statement will contain important information about the proposed transaction and related matters. BEFORE MAKING ANY VOTING OR INVESTMENT DECISION, THE COMPANY’S STOCKHOLDERS AND INVESTORS ARE URGED TO READ THE PROXY STATEMENT (INCLUDING ANY AMENDMENTS OR SUPPLEMENTS THERETO) IN ITS ENTIRETY WHEN IT BECOMES AVAILABLE AND ANY OTHER DOCUMENTS FILED BY THE COMPANY WITH THE SEC RELATING TO THE PROPOSED ACQUISITION OR INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE THEREIN BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROPOSED ACQUISITION. Investors and stockholders of the Company may obtain a free copy of the preliminary and definitive versions of the proxy statement once filed, as well as other relevant filings containing information about the Company and the proposed acquisition, including materials that are incorporated by reference into the Proxy Statement, without charge, at the SEC’s website (https://www.sec.gov) or from the Company by going to the Company’s Investor Relations Page on its website ().
Participants in the Solicitation
The Company and its directors, and certain of its executive officers, consisting of Lara Caimi, Jonathan Chadwick, Alyssa Henry, Matthew Miller, Neha Narkhede, Greg Schott, Eric Vishria, Michelangelo Volpi, who are the non‑employee members of the Board of Directors of the Company (the “Board”), and Jay Kreps, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board, Rohan Sivaram, Chief Financial Officer, and Ryan Mac Ban, Chief Revenue Officer, may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from the Company’s stockholders in connection with the proposed acquisition. Information regarding the Company’s directors and certain of its executive officers, including a description of their direct or indirect interests, by security holdings or otherwise, can be found under the captions “Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management,” “Executive Compensation,” and “Director Compensation” contained in the Company’s definitive proxy statement on Schedule 14A for the Company’s 2025 annual meeting of stockholders, which was filed with the SEC on April 23, 2025. To the extent holdings of the Company’s securities by its directors or executive officers have changed since the applicable “as of” date described in its 2025 proxy statement, such changes have been or will be reflected on Initial Statements of Beneficial Ownership on Form 3 or Statements of Beneficial Ownership on Form 4 filed with the SEC, including (i) the Form 4s filed by Ms. Narkhede on May 6, 2025, June 4, 2025, June 12, 2025, September 11, 2025, October 31, 2025, November 5, 2025 and December 3, 2025; (ii) the Form 4s filed by Mr. Sivaram on May 22, 2025, June 4, 2025, June 9, 2025, August 22, 2025, September 10, 2025, October 31, 2025, November 24, 2025 and December 3, 2025; (iii) the Form 4s filed by Mr. Kreps on May 19, 2025, May 22, 2025, June 9, 2025, August 18, 2025, August 22, 2025, September 8, 2025, November 17, 2025 and November 24, 2025; (iv) the Form 4 filed by Mr. Chadwick on April 4, 2025 and June 12, 2025; (v) the Form 3 filed by Mr. Ban on May 16, 2025 and the Form 4s filed by Mr. Ban on May 22, 2025, June 24, 2025, August 22, 2025, September 24, 2025 and November 24, 2025; (vi) the Form 4s filed by Mr. Vishria on May 21, 2025, June 9, 2025, June 12, 2025, September 2, 2025 and October 31, 2025; (vii) the Form 4 filed by Mr. Volpi on June 9, 2025; (viii) the Form 4 filed by Ms. Caimi on June 12, 2025; (ix) the Form 4 filed by Mr. Schott on June 12, 2025; and (x) the Form 4 filed by Ms. Henry on June 12, 2025. Additional information regarding the identity of potential participants, and their direct or indirect interests, by security holdings or otherwise, will be included in the definitive proxy statement relating to the proposed acquisition when it is filed with the SEC. These documents (when available) may be obtained free of charge from the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov and the Company’s website at .
Forward Looking Statements
This communication contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed “forward-looking statements”, including all statements regarding the intent, belief or current expectation of the companies and members of their senior management teams. Words such as “may,” “will,” “could,” “would,” “should,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “project,” “potential,” “continue,” “target,” variations of such words, and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words.
These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the benefits of and timeline for closing the Company’s proposed transaction with Parent. These statements are based on various assumptions, whether or not identified in this communication, and on the current expectations of the Company’s management and are not predictions of actual performance. These forward-looking statements are provided for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to serve as, and must not be relied on by any investor as, a guarantee, an assurance, a prediction or a definitive statement of fact or probability. Actual events and circumstances are difficult or impossible to predict and may differ from assumptions. Many actual events and circumstances are beyond the control of the Company. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including the timing, receipt and terms and conditions of any required governmental and regulatory approvals of the proposed transaction that could delay the consummation of the proposed transaction or cause the parties to abandon the proposed transaction; the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstances that could give rise to the termination of the merger agreement entered into in connection with the proposed transaction; the possibility that the Company’s stockholders may not approve the proposed transaction; the risk that the parties to the merger agreement may not be able to satisfy the conditions to the proposed transaction in a timely manner or at all; risks related to disruption of management time from ongoing business operations due to the proposed transaction; the risk that any announcements relating to the proposed transaction could have adverse effects on the market price of the common stock of the Company; the risk of any unexpected costs or expenses resulting from the proposed transaction; the risk of any litigation relating to the proposed transaction; and the risk that the proposed transaction and its announcement could have an adverse effect on the ability of the Company to retain and hire key personnel and to maintain relationships with customers, vendors, partners, employees, stockholders and other business relationships and on its operating results and business generally.
Further information on factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results anticipated by the forward-looking statements is included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10‑K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024, Quarterly Reports on Form 10‑Q, Current Reports on Form 8‑K, the Proxy Statement and other filings made by the Company from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These filings, when available, are available on the investor relations section of the Company’s website () or on the SEC’s website (https://www.sec.gov). If any of these risks materialize or any of these assumptions prove incorrect, actual results could differ materially from the results implied by these forward-looking statements. There may be additional risks that the Company presently does not know of or that the Company currently believes are immaterial that could also cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements included in this communication are made only as of the date hereof. The Company assumes no obligation and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by law.