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Salesforce has announced it will acquire data management specialist Informatica for around $8bn in equity value, net of its current investment. The deal, already approved by both boards and supported by major shareholders, is expected to close in early fiscal 2027, pending regulatory approval. The company expects the deal to be financially accretive by the second year post-close and sees significant opportunity in sectors like healthcare, life sciences, and the public sector.
Informatica brings a comprehensive set of data capabilities that will enhance Salesforce’s ability to deliver trustworthy, scalable AI. At the core of Informatica’s platform are its cloud-native tools for data integration, governance, metadata management, data quality, privacy, and Master Data Management (MDM). These features enable enterprises to manage vast and complex data environments across hybrid and multi-cloud infrastructures. Its Claire AI engine brings copilot capabilities to help organisations manage, classify and discover data sources, with features such as intelligent glossary associations and automated data classification.
Salesforce plans to embed Informatica’s technology into its broader platform, enhancing products such as Data Cloud, MuleSoft, Tableau, and its new Agentforce AI suite. The acquisition strengthens what is already a strong portfolio of data management and AI integration solutions, as Salesforce seeks to expand from its CRM roots to position itself as one of the primary platforms for organisations to centralise and manage their data, as well as facilitate the implementation of AI tools and LLMs.
“Together, Salesforce and Informatica will create the most complete, agent-ready data platform in the industry,” said Marc Benioff, Chair and CEO of Salesforce.
We expect to see further market consolidation in the Data and AI market over the next few years, in what is already becoming a top-heavy market dominated by the hyperscalers and enterprise software suppliers such as Salesforce, ServiceNow and SAP. For more niche AI suppliers, a strong industry centric USP and domain expertise has never been more crucial. The theme of consolidation also extends to end user organisations who are increasingly looking to consolidate the number of platforms and tools they leverage, as they seek to cut down on the time and costs involved in managing and operating multiple platforms and instances of 3rd party software, a trend that should act as a strong tailwind for suppliers like Salesforce as well as its System Integrator (SI) partners.
Posted by: Simon Baxter at 09:37