Salesforce has announced the acquisition of application network platform provider MuleSoft for $6.5 billion, making it the largest acquisition in the company's history.

MuleSoft – which went public last year – offers a platform which connects SaaS and enterprise applications whether on-premise or in the cloud.

The company's role within Salesforce will be to 'power the new Salesforce Integration Cloud, which will enable all enterprises to surface any data – regardless of where it resides – to drive deep and intelligent customer experiences throughout a personalised 1:1 journey', in the words of the company.

MuleSoft's more than 1,200 customers include Coca-Cola, Barclays and Unilever. Naturally, these companies cited in the press materials are also key Salesforce clients. Unilever announced in July that it was combining with Salesforce and Accenture, as well as being a long-term customer of Salesforce Marketing Cloud, while Coca-Cola has used Salesforce for building custom apps on the Salesforce1 platform and Barclays utilises Salesforce Communities.

"Together, Salesforce and MuleSoft will enable customers to connect all of the information throughout their enterprise across all public and private clouds and data sources – radically enhancing innovation," said Marc Benioff, Salesforce CEO. "I am thrilled to welcome MuleSoft to the Salesforce Ohana." Greg Schott, MuleSoft CEO, added: "Together, Salesforce and MuleSoft will accelerate our customers' digital transformations enabling them to unlock their data across any application or endpoint."

The largest acquisition from Salesforce previously, where monetary details were disclosed, was ExactTarget in 2013 for $2.5bn. Shares in MuleSoft rose significantly by 27.2% at close.