Salesforce to buy Informatica for US$8 billion

Salesforce will buy Informatica for about $8 billion ($12.4 billion), betting on the data management platform to sharpen its competitive edge in the booming artificial intelligence market.

The cloud-software giant is returning to big-ticket M&A after years on the sidelines, driven by scrutiny from activist investors pressing for better profitability.

It had last year shelved deal talks with Informatica after the companies failed to agree on deal terms.

Buying Informatica, in its biggest deal since its nearly US$28 billion acquisition of Slack Technologies in 2021, would help Salesforce expand its data management tools as it doubles down on AI-powered products.

The deal would also allow Salesforce to tighten control over how business data is managed and used, an essential step as it races to embed generative AI deeper into its products.

"Salesforce and Informatica will create the most complete, agent-ready data platform in the industry," said Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, adding the deal will strengthen its position in the US$150 billion-plus data enterprise market.

The company has been offering AI agents - programs that can handle routine work without human supervision - to businesses for recruiting and customer service.

It has closed more than 1000 paid deals for "Agentforce", its platform for creating AI-powered virtual representatives.

Salesforce is paying US$25 for each share of Informatica, a premium of about 30 percent to Informatica's closing price on May 22, the day before news of renewed talks emerged.

Salesforce expects to close the deal in early next fiscal year starting February through a mix of cash and new debt.

The deal is expected to boost its operating margin from the second year after closing.

Scotiabank analysts said the move could help Salesforce catch-up with software rivals as "data management software is now most often sold as part of mega-vendor tool kits".

The business software company has been a prolific dealmaker, buying data analytics firm Tableau Software in 2019 for US$15.7 billion in stock, and Slack in 2021 in its biggest deal.

Those deals drew scrutiny in 2023 when activist investors, including ValueAct Capital and Elliott Management, pressed for changes to improve profitability.