Salesforce & Informatica Unable to Agree on Price

Negotiations between Salesforce Inc. ( CRM ) and Informatica Inc. regarding a potential acquisition have stalled due to the parties' inability to agree on a suitable price. The source, who requested to remain anonymous, disclosed that the matter is confidential.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday that the talks were losing steam, but representatives from both companies declined to comment on the matter. Pre-market trading on Monday saw Informatica shares plummet by up to 7.6%, from its Friday close of $35.19 in New York, which valued the firm at approximately $10.5 billion. Meanwhile, Salesforce ( CRM ) shares rose by as much as 3.3% in early trading, having closed at $270.37 previously.

Salesforce ( CRM ), the leading AI CRM, has announced a collaboration with IHG Hotels & Resorts, one of the world's largest hotel companies with over 6,000 hotels across 19 global brands, to enhance guest loyalty through its IHG One Rewards program. The collaboration aims to achieve deeper personalization, unlock efficiencies, and inspire faster innovation.

As customer expectations evolve, with 65% of consumers indicating that they will remain loyal to businesses that offer more personalized experiences, IHG is standardizing its CRM on the Einstein 1 Platform. This platform integrates CRM, AI, data, and trust on a single, unified platform to foster customer loyalty, more personalized guest experiences, and greater efficiencies.

Heather Balsley, Global Chief Commercial & Marketing Officer at IHG Hotels & Resorts, stated that "As we continue to enhance the IHG One Rewards loyalty program, one of our top priorities is ensuring our guests have a booking and stay experience that is customized to their individual travel needs." She also emphasized that the collaboration with Salesforce would enable the company "to provide personalized content and offerings that ultimately drive a deeper connection to our most valued guests."

Jeff Amann, EVP & GM, Salesforce Industries, noted that "By bringing more data into Salesforce, IHG Hotels & Resorts is able to garner greater insights that will contribute to an unparalleled experience for guests and hotel owners." He added that "With the Einstein 1 Platform, IHG is delivering joy for its guests today while setting itself up to leverage new technologies like AI that help optimize guest interactions in the future."

By adopting Loyalty Management and the Einstein 1 Platform, IHG is expected to attract stronger relationships with guests and increase its loyalty membership with predictive AI capabilities. The company also leverages Data Cloud and Service Cloud to quicken innovation and create more tailored customer service.

IHG Hotels & Resorts will create a single source of truth for millions of customer profiles by expanding the use of Data Cloud, unifying data from multiple external systems, and creating a seamless guest experience across its 19 global hotel brands. The company is also laying the foundation to use generative AI to help guests manage their stays more effectively, with the support of Salesforce and other technology partners.

Moreover, IHG Hotels & Resorts will use Marketing Cloud to effectively target customers through channels of their preference, including email, SMS, or push notifications. When a potential guest visits an IHG Hotels & Resorts booking page but does not complete a booking, a segment is created in Data Cloud and sent to Marketing Cloud for activation to encourage the member to return and complete the transaction.

Finally, with Service Cloud's 360-degree view of its guests, IHG Hotels & Resorts will be able to offer more tailored customer service and provide more accurate and quicker resolutions to guest inquiries.