Salesforce announced on Tuesday it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Braze, the customer engagement platform, for approximately 5.66 billion dollars in enterprise value, in a major bet on AI-driven marketing.
Under the terms, holders of Braze Class A common stock will receive 47.50 dollars in cash per share. The deal is expected to close in Salesforce’s fiscal 2028, pending shareholder and regulatory approvals, with no anticipated change to fiscal 2027 guidance, according to reports. Braze shares surged more than 50 per cent in premarket trading on the news, while Salesforce fell over 3 per cent.
Real-time personalisation
Braze helps marketers respond to customer behaviour in real time, coordinating personalised experiences across mobile apps, websites, email, SMS and WhatsApp, according to reports. Its cloud-native, event-streaming architecture powers trillions of messages and journey actions each year, while BrazeAI adds AI-powered optimisation across content, offers, channels and timing.
“Every interaction is an opportunity to wow your customers,” said Patrick Stokes, Salesforce’s president of applications and marketing, according to reports. “Braze was built to turn live customer behaviour into personalised engagement at scale.” Salesforce plans to integrate Braze with Marketing Cloud, CRM, Data 360 and its Agentforce AI platform.
Growth at a premium
Braze serves about 2,770 customers and reported 26.2 per cent year-over-year revenue growth to 227.2 million dollars in its latest quarter, according to reports. Its operating loss narrowed to 18.1 million dollars from 38.8 million. Founded in 2011 as Appboy and public since 2021, Braze counts brands like Canva, Instacart and Venmo among its users. The market’s split reaction, Braze soaring while Salesforce slipped, shows investors see the strategic logic but question the price. Whether the premium pays off will depend on how quickly Salesforce can turn Braze’s real-time engagement into cross-sell traction across its vast customer base.
