Salesforce Deepens AI Bets With $5.66 Billion Braze Acquisition

3-line summary

• Salesforce agreed to acquire marketing-software firm Braze for about $5.66 billion, paying Braze Class A shareholders $47.50 per share in cash, a roughly 58.1% premium to Braze's prior closing price; the deal includes a $300 million breakup fee if Salesforce walks away and $191.4 million if Braze does.
• Salesforce aims to add Braze's AI-driven personalization tools-which help marketers optimize content, offers, channels, and send times, and respond to customer behavior in real time with tailored messaging-to strengthen its existing business software products amid investor concerns that AI adoption could erode demand for traditional software; the deal follows Salesforce's $3.6 billion acquisition of AI-agent platform Fin this year and its $8 billion purchase of Informatica last year.
• The deal is expected to close within Salesforce's fiscal year 2028, subject to required approvals; Salesforce said the transaction does not change its fiscal 2027 outlook. Braze shares jumped more than 50% early in trading, while Salesforce shares fell.

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