Met Traders

Microsoft Go All LinkedIn

Posted October 10, 2016 Tom Linney

Microsoft is attempting subject to regulatory approval to buy the professional networking site Linkedin for $26.1 billion. This is one of the largest tech deals of the year so far and also Microsoft’s largest ever purchase, which signals the ambitions of Microsoft to make up for lost ground in the social media sector.

Mircosoft is believed to have beaten out the likes of Google, Facebook and publicly Salesforce for the acquisition of Linkedin. This is the biggest purchase by Microsoft, whose recent history with billion dollar deals is less than stellar.

The CEO of Microsoft, Satya Nadella, has stated that there are many benefits that will be gained from this acquisition, most of which focus on using LinkedIn as the centrepiece for working life by connecting it to the existing and heavily used Microsoft office programs. Linkedin will retain its independence after the takeover has been completed.

This deal has been challenged by Salesforce who have raised several issues with the European Union as to why the takeover could be a problem for European users. The major contention that Salesforce have is that the Microsoft deal could mean that 3^rd parties won’t be able to access the information from Linkedin so therefore putting Microsoft in an advantageous position. This is the beginning of what appears to be a public spat between Salesforce and Microsoft who compete with each other in the CRM market.

The deal has been approved by regulators in both the USA and Brazil, its currently waiting on approval from the EU. This is expected to take some time with some analysts suggesting a timeframe of into early next year.

 

Photo courtesy of Jurgen Appelo, via flickr