Salesforce agrees to buy marketing app Braze at a steep premium

A US$5.66 billion bet on real-time personalisation

Under the terms of the definitive agreement, Salesforce has agreed to acquire customer engagement platform Braze for approximately US$5.66 billion in enterprise value, paying US$47.50 in cash for each Braze Class A common share.^[1] The definitive agreement and plan of merger, signed on October 19, 2026, names Banff Acquisition Sub Inc., a wholly owned Salesforce subsidiary, as the acquiring vehicle.^[2]

What Braze brings to the table

Founded in 2011, Braze built its reputation on an event-streaming architecture that continuously updates customer profiles and fires personalised campaigns in real time across mobile apps, websites, email, SMS and WhatsApp.^[1] The platform targets high-volume business-to-consumer engagement, where the window between a customer action and a brand response can determine whether a sale is made or lost.

Patrick Stokes, President of Applications and Marketing at Salesforce, said Braze was built to turn live customer behaviour into personalised engagement at scale, and that bringing Braze's capability together with Salesforce Marketing Cloud, CRM and Data 360 would deliver meaningful moments in every customer interaction.^[1]

What the combination means for marketers

Salesforce Marketing Cloud is the company's flagship solution for planning, personalising and optimising one-to-one customer journeys across email, mobile and digital advertising, sitting atop the wider Customer 360 suite.^[1]

Braze shares closed at US$30.04 on Monday, before the announcement, and jumped more than 51 per cent on Tuesday to close at US$45.57, CNBC reported.^[4] The US$47.50 offer is about 58 per cent above that Monday close. Magnuson said BrazeAI is helping marketers get their best ideas live faster.

Magnuson said Salesforce shares the company's commitment to marketers, and that Braze would continue building as Braze and investing in the community of customers and partners who built the company.^[1] Magnuson said the combined scale of Salesforce's platform would allow both companies to innovate faster and help marketers build deeper, more lasting relationships with their customers.

Closing timeline and approvals

Salesforce filed its own Form 8-K with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on October 20, 2026, confirming entry into the definitive agreement.^[3] Braze's own 8-K says the merger agreement was signed on October 19, 2026.^[2]

The transaction requires approval from Braze shareholders and clearance from relevant regulators before it can close, with Salesforce targeting completion inside its fiscal year 2028.^[1]