The Bundeskartellamt has approved the merger between International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) and Confluent, Inc., both based in the USA, after an in-depth examination. The authority concluded that the merger does not raise any substantial competitive issues.

IBM is a global player in the manufacturing and marketing of a wide range of IT solutions, including software and systems for enterprise customers, cloud services, and AI offerings. Confluent is a leading provider of Event Stream Processing (ESP) software, which integrates data from various applications and databases in real-time, particularly for AI applications in businesses.

Andreas Mundt, President of the Bundeskartellamt, stated that the investigation revealed that both companies will continue to operate in dynamic and competitive markets post-merger. The merger does not provide the companies with the ability to eliminate competitors through product or discount bundling.

IBM is not considered a relevant alternative to Confluent in the market. While Confluent has a strong market presence, there are several capable competitors, including Ververica, Redpanda, StreamNative, and Aiven, which offer ESP software for various applications. Additionally, cloud-based offerings from major providers and the open-source solution Apache Kafka are also competitive alternatives.

The investigation also focused on potential competitive impacts from the combination of complementary products from both companies. Although IBM leads in certain areas, particularly with powerful mainframes, the findings indicated that the merger does not significantly bind customers to Confluent or allow IBM to raise prices or eliminate competitors. No harmful effects from bundled offerings were identified, as a significant portion of companies using ESP software are not IBM customers, and no relevant product-related complementary effects were demonstrated by market participants.