Salesforce announced on Tuesday that it will acquire Informatica for approximately $8 billion, marking its largest deal since buying Slack Technologies in 2021. The acquisition aims to strengthen Salesforce’s position in the rapidly growing artificial intelligence market by enhancing its data management capabilities.
Reuters reports that, the deal values Informatica at $25 per share, representing roughly a 30% premium to the company’s closing price on May 22.
Strategic Move to Dominate AI Market
The acquisition will combine Informatica’s data management tools with Salesforce’s existing platform to create what CEO Marc Benioff calls “the most complete, agent-ready data platform in the industry“. This merger targets the $150 billion-plus enterprise data market and focuses on developing AI agents that handle routine business tasks without human intervention.
Salesforce’s Agentforce platform has already secured more than 1,000 paid customer deals, demonstrating strong market demand for AI-powered automation tools. The company has been actively developing AI agents for recruiting and customer service.
Deal Details
The transaction has been approved by both companies’ boards and is expected to close early in Salesforce’s fiscal year 2027. Informatica shareholders will receive $25 in cash per share, while Salesforce plans to fund the acquisition through cash and new debt.
Market reaction was positive, with Informatica shares rising 5.8% in premarket trading to $23.86, while Salesforce stock gained 1.2%. This deal comes after previous negotiations between the companies fell through in April 2024 due to disagreements over terms.
Enhanced Data Capabilities for Enterprise AI
The acquisition will integrate Informatica’s data catalog, integration, governance, and privacy management services with Salesforce’s existing tools including Data Cloud, MuleSoft, and Tableau. This combination will enable AI agents to operate more safely and effectively across enterprise environments by providing better data transparency and governance.
The deal represents Salesforce’s commitment to expanding its AI capabilities as businesses increasingly seek to leverage their data for competitive advantage in the artificial intelligence era.