Salesforce.com Inc. (NYSE: CRM) is buying cloud marketing vendor ExactTarget for $2.5 billion.

ExactTarget provides digital marketing services to several big-name clients, including Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE:KO), Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS) and Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE).

The transaction, which involves the sale of all outstanding shares of Indianapolis-based ExactTarget at $33.75 per share, was unanimously approved by the boards of directors at both companies. The deal is slated to close by the end of July.

Salesforce.com stated it would combine ExactTarget offerings and capabilities with those already in-house, especially from previous acquisitions. In 2011, Salesforce acquired Radian6 Technologies Inc. for $326 million in 2011 and Buddy Media Inc. for $689 million in 2012.

Founded in 2000, ExactTarget has approximately 6,000 customers in addition to Coca-Cola, Gap and Nike. They are as varied as Levi’s, Raymond James and the Harlem Globetrotters. In Q1 2013, ExactTarget reported 39 percent year-over-year growth to $88.9 million in revenue.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch (NYSE: BAC) advised Salesforce.com, while JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) ran the sale process for ExactTarget. For more coverage on Salesforce, see "Salesforce Continues Spree."

It was the second big cloud deal announced Tuesday, as IBM proposed a buyout of cloud infrastructure vendor SoftLayer.

Anthony Noto contributed to this report. Justin Kern reports for Information Management.