Salesforce to buy Informatica for $8B in data play for AI dominance

Salesforce announced on Tuesday that it is buying data-management software firm Informatica in a deal valued at $8 billion.

Under the agreement, Salesforce will acquire all outstanding shares of common stock of Informatica that it does not already own. Informatica’s shareholders will receive $25 in cash per share, the companies said. 

The transaction, which has been approved by the boards of directors of both Salesforce and Informatica, is expected to close in fiscal year 2027.

Salesforce shares rose Tuesday morning following the announcement. 

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The goal of the deal, which reportedly fell apart about a year ago after disagreements over terms, is to enhance Salesforce’s data foundation, which the company says is “critical for deploying powerful and responsible agentic AI.” 

Bloomberg first reported that the companies were in advanced talks over a new deal last week. 

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 18, 2023.  (Stefan Wermuth/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

The companies said Informatica’s data catalog, data integration, governance, quality and privacy, metadata management and master data management services combined with the Salesforce platform “will establish a unified architecture for agentic AI – enabling AI agents to operate safely, responsibly, and at scale across the modern enterprise.” 

When the deal was announced, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff said that the companies “will create the most complete, agent-ready data platform in the industry.” 

Salesforce will acquire all outstanding shares of common stock of Informatica that it does not already own. ((Photo by Stephen Lam/Getty Images) / Getty Images)

“We will enable autonomous agents to deliver smarter, safer, and more scalable outcomes for every company, and significantly strengthen our position in the $150 billion-plus enterprise data market,” Benioff said. 

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The acquisition is Salesforce’s latest efforts to expand its dominance in the software-as-a-service space. 

One way Salesforce has been trying to gain dominance is through its aggressive acquisition strategy. It acquired software platform MuleSoft in 2018. The platform provides tools and services for building, integrating and managing application programming interfaces, which allow different software programs to interact with each other. Three years later it entered into a deal to acquire the workplace-chat app Slack Technologies Inc. 

Salesforce acquired Slack Technologies in 2021. (Stephen Lam/Getty Images / Getty Images)

“Our acquisition strategy is methodical, patient, and decisive – targeting transformative assets like…