Salesforce to buy Braze for USD 5.66 billion in marketing tech push

Salesforce has agreed to buy Braze, a customer engagement platform that brands use to send personalised messages across apps, websites, email, SMS and WhatsApp, in a deal valuing the company at about USD 5.66 billion.

Under the agreement announced on 20 October, holders of Braze's Class A shares will receive USD 47.50 in cash for each share. The deal is expected to close in Salesforce's 2028 financial year, subject to approval by Braze shareholders and regulators.

Braze has about 2,770 customers, including Canva, Instacart and Venmo. Salesforce said Braze's real-time engagement and AI tools would strengthen its Marketing Cloud and its Agentforce AI agents.

"Braze was built to turn live customer behavior into personalized engagement at scale," said Patrick Stokes, Salesforce's president for applications and marketing.

Braze chief executive and co-founder Bill Magnuson said the company would "continue building as Braze" after the deal.

Salesforce said the purchase does not change its guidance for the current financial year.