IT之家 News on October 21: Salesforce will acquire Braze in a deal valued at about 5.66 billion USD (IT之家 note: approximately 37.873 billion RMB at the current exchange rate). With this set of tools that lets brands send personalized messages and respond to customer behavior in real time, Salesforce will strengthen its artificial intelligence business layout.
After the deal was announced, Braze's stock rose more than 50% on Tuesday local time.
As investors worry that the rapid spread of AI technology will erode market demand for traditional software, this acquisition is Salesforce's latest bet to accelerate its own AI transformation.
Braze shareholders will receive 47.50 USD (approximately 317.8 RMB at the current exchange rate) in cash per share, a premium of about 58.1% over the stock's closing price on the previous trading day.
Braze serves about 2,770 customers, including Canva, Instacart and Venmo, and its AI tools can help marketers optimize content, offers and distribution channels.
Shay Boloor, chief market strategist at Futurum Equities, said Salesforce is essentially acquiring the "real-time engagement layer that marketing businesses have always lacked."
The customer relationship management software provider expects the deal to close in fiscal year 2028 and said the acquisition will not change its fiscal 2027 performance outlook.
Salesforce has been ramping up its AI product lineup: earlier this year it acquired the AI agent platform Fin for 3.6 billion USD (approximately 24.089 billion RMB at the current exchange rate), and last year it completed the 8 billion USD (approximately 53.531 billion RMB at the current exchange rate) acquisition of Informatica.
San Francisco-based Salesforce would have to pay a 300 million USD (approximately 2.007 billion RMB at the current exchange rate) termination fee if it scraps the deal, while Braze would have to pay 191.4 million USD (approximately 1.281 billion RMB at the current exchange rate) if it abandons the transaction.
J.P. Morgan Securities is serving as sole financial advisor to Salesforce, and Qatalyst Partners is advising Braze.