San Francisco, CA – Salesforce has finalized a deal to acquire data management giant Informatica in an all-cash transaction worth approximately $8 billion, marking its largest acquisition since the $28 billion Slack purchase in 2021.
The agreement comes after failed negotiations in 2023, when talks collapsed over valuation disagreements. Since then, Informatica’s stock price has declined by more than 30%, making the acquisition significantly cheaper for Salesforce. Under the terms, Informatica shareholders will receive $25 per share—a 30% premium over its closing price on May 22.
Why Informatica? Because AI Needs Clean Data
The acquisition is a strategic move to strengthen Salesforce’s AI and data infrastructure, particularly for its Agentforce autonomous AI platform.
“Together, Salesforce and Informatica will create the most complete, agent-ready data platform in the industry,” said Marc Benioff, Salesforce Chair and CEO. “By unifying Data Cloud, MuleSoft, and Tableau with Informatica’s advanced data management, we’ll enable smarter, safer, and more scalable AI outcomes.”
Key Drivers Behind the Deal:
- Data Quality for AI Agents
- AI agents (like those in Agentforce) require clean, well-governed data to function effectively.
- Many enterprises struggle with disparate, messy data—Informatica’s tools help clean, catalog, and secure it.
- Closing the Gap in Salesforce’s Data Stack
- While Salesforce offers Data Cloud, MuleSoft, and Tableau, it lacks deep metadata management and enterprise-grade data governance—areas where Informatica excels.
- Informatica’s CLAIRE AI automates data integration, quality checks, and compliance, making it easier for businesses to prepare data for AI.
- Expanding into Enterprise IT
- Salesforce traditionally sells to CX leaders, but AI’s rise means IT teams now oversee AI agent deployments.
- Informatica’s strong IT buyer relationships could help Salesforce penetrate this market.
Potential Challenges
Despite the strategic fit, the deal carries risks:
- Integration Complexity – Informatica’s co-founder Gaurav Dhillon previously warned that merging the two companies could take up to five years.
- Overlap with MuleSoft – Both companies offer data integration tools, raising potential redundancy concerns.
- Regulatory Scrutiny – Given Salesforce’s market dominance, antitrust reviews could delay the deal.
- Investor Skepticism – Salesforce’s stock dropped 3% on the news, reflecting concerns over return on investment.
What’s Next?
The acquisition is expected to close in early fiscal 2027 (February). Once finalized, Salesforce plans to:
- Embed Informatica’s data governance into Agentforce, Data Cloud, and Tableau.
- Accelerate AI adoption by ensuring enterprises have trusted, well-structured data.
- Compete with Microsoft, Google, and AWS, which already offer tightly integrated AI + data platforms.
Bottom Line
Salesforce is betting big that AI’s future success depends on data quality—and Informatica gives it the tools to win that race. But with high integration risks and investor skepticism, the real test will be execution.
One thing is clear: In the AI era, data is the new currency—and Salesforce just bought a money printer.
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