Salesforce announces the $8 billion acquisition of Informatica

Salesforce announced on Tuesday that it has agreed to acquire Informatica, a leading cloud-based data management company, in a transaction worth about $8 billion.

The deal is aimed at deepening Salesforce’s footprint in the fast-growing AI sector by integrating Informatica’s rich metadata and data catalogue capabilities with Salesforce’s Agentforce platform, which powers autonomous AI agents for a variety of business tasks.

Salesforce and Informatica shares jump on news of the transaction

Under the terms of the agreement, holders of both Class A and Class B-1 Informatica common shares will receive $25 in cash for each share they own. This price represents roughly a 30% premium over Informatica’s closing price of $19.24 on May 22, the trading session immediately preceding reports of renewed merger discussions.

Informatica’s stock jumped more than 5% on the announcement, while shares of Salesforce inched up by around 1 percent.

Steve Fisher, president and chief technology officer of Salesforce, explained that “truly autonomous, trustworthy AI agents need the most comprehensive understanding of their data.”

He added that combining Informatica’s advanced catalog and metadata services with the Agentforce platform will provide precisely that depth of understanding, enabling more reliable and scalable AI-driven workflows.

The companies had been in preliminary negotiations over a year ago, but talks stalled last year when they could not agree on final terms.

According to Bloomberg, informal discussions resumed in recent weeks, sending Informatica’s shares sharply higher ahead of the formal announcement.

Financing for the transaction will come from Salesforce’s existing cash reserves supplemented by newly issued debt. Salesforce expects the acquisition to be completed in the early stages of its next fiscal year, which begins in February 2026.

The company projects that the deal will begin to enhance its operating margin by the second year following closing. This comes as the company is also setting its eyes on Singapore, pledging to invest $1 billion in the next five years to drive AI adoption.

The deal is expected to consolidate Salesforce’s market share

Marc Benioff, Salesforce’s CEO, highlighted that the acquisition will allow the company to weave Informatica’s offerings into its broader Data Cloud, MuleSoft integration platform, and Tableau analytics suite.

By doing so, Salesforce aims to put in place “the most complete, agent-ready data platform in the industry,” capable of powering AI agents that deliver smarter, safer, and more scalable outcomes for customers across different sectors.

“Salesforce and Informatica will create the most complete, agent-ready data platform in the industry.”

– Benioff.

Salesforce has an established track record of transformative acquisitions. In 2018, it acquired MuleSoft for $6.5 billion, followed by the $15.7 billion purchase of Tableau in 2019 and its largest deal to date – the $27.7 billion takeover of Slack in 2021.

These strategic investments have broadened Salesforce’s portfolio beyond its core customer relationship management (CRM) software into integration, analytics, and collaboration tools.

Investors and activists have, at times, called for tighter cost controls and stronger profitability, a push that has influenced Salesforce’s approach to deal-making and operational efficiency in recent years.

Analysts at Scotiabank noted that bringing Informatica into the Salesforce fold could help the company catch up with competitors who already bundle data management functions into their larger software suites.

“Data management software is now most often sold as part of mega-vendor tool kits,” they commented, suggesting that Salesforce’s move reflects a broader industry trend toward unified, end-to-end platforms.

Informatica, for its part, has staked its reputation on providing a comprehensive suite of services around data cataloging, integration, governance, and privacy. These capabilities are increasingly critical as enterprises collect and analyze ever-larger volumes of information and as regulatory requirements around data protection become more stringent.

Incorporating these features directly into Salesforce’s AI and analytics offerings could streamline how organizations maintain data quality and compliance while deploying generative AI and other advanced machine-learning applications.

Salesforce’s Agentforce platform, which began marketing in 2023, enables organizations to deploy AI-driven assistants that can autonomously handle tasks such as recruiting, customer service inquiries, and routine administrative workflows.

To date, the company has closed over 1,000 paid deals for Agentforce, underscoring growing enterprise appetite for AI agents capable of reducing manual workloads without sacrificing reliability or oversight.

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