IBM Close to Buying Confluent in $11 Billion Deal, WSJ Says (2)

International Business Machines Corp. is in advanced negotiations to acquire data infrastructure firm Confluent for around $11 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

A deal, which would mark one of IBM’s biggest acquisitions in recent years, could be announced as early as Monday, the Journal said. Confluent, valued at about $8 billion, specializes in managing the data essential to developing artificial intelligence. Its shares surged 32% in early trading before markets opened in New York.

Dealmaking in the computing infrastructure arena has heated up, driven by demand for tools that help companies more ...