Microsoft Corp. has signed a deal with LinkedIn and the agreement is that Microsoft will acquire LinkedIn for $196 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at $26.2 billion. This includes all the net cash of LinkedIn. There will be no changes to the top heads of the acquired brand as Jeff Weiner will remain CEO of LinkedIn, reporting to Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft.
The full acquisition is to complete by the end of the year, and the transaction has been approved by the boards of both the brands. “The LinkedIn team has grown a fantastic business centered on connecting the world’s professionals,” Nadella said. “Together we can accelerate the growth of LinkedIn, as well as Microsoft Office 365 and Dynamics as we seek to empower every person and organization on the planet.”
“Today is a re-founding moment for LinkedIn. I see incredible opportunity for our members and customers and look forward to supporting this new and combined business,” said Hoffman. “I fully support this transaction and the Board’s decision to pursue it, and will vote my shares in accordance with their recommendation on it.”
Microsoft has been lately working on the services platform and the deal will hugely help them to bring out more services to the enterprises. The acquisition of LinkedIn will give Microsoft a boost in terms of reach and social services platform growth. LinkedIn was getting into a few problems with the revenue growth and the share price too was dropping with time, so the deal will be a win-win for both the companies to connect and develop further into the enterprise services space.
The opportunity ahead for the companies, according to the release is to drive increased engagement across LinkedIn as well as Office 365 and Dynamics and accelerate monetization through individual and organization subscription and targeted advertising.
Microsoft and LinkedIn will host a joint conference call with investors on June 13, 2016, at 8:45 a.m. Pacific Time/11:45 a.m. Eastern Time to discuss this transaction.
Source: Microsoft
