Microsoft and LinkedIn Corporation on Monday announced they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Microsoft will acquire LinkedIn for $196 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at $26.2 billion, inclusive of LinkedIn’s net cash. LinkedIn will retain its distinct brand, culture and independence. Jeff Weiner will remain CEO of LinkedIn, reporting to Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft. Reid Hoffman, chairman of the board, co-founder and controlling shareholder of LinkedIn, and Weiner both fully support this transaction. The transaction is expected to close this calendar year.
Under the terms of the acquisition, Microsoft said LinkedIn will maintain its "distinct brand, culture, and independence" — similar to how Facebook handled its acquisition of WhatsApp — and Microsoft says LinkedIn cofounder and chairman Reid Hoffman and Weiner "both fully support" the purchase, with both boards signing off.
LinkedIn team has grown a fantastic business and an impressive network connecting more than 433 million of the world’s professionals. LinkedIn is the world’s largest and most valuable professional network and continues to build a strong and growing business. Nadella (CEO of Microsoft) went on to mention how Microsoft's Office software suite could be combined with LinkedIn's network in the future, such as the ability for Microsoft to serve up suggestions for a specialized expert through LinkedIn when its software recognizes you're trying to complete a specific task(How cool is this right?).
LinkedIn will also be able to plug into Office to detect the kind of project you're working on, which the social network will then use to surface relevant articles to infuse into your LinkedIn news feed.
Microsoft also sees opportunities in Lynda.com, a channel for training videos that LinkedIn bought for $1.5 billion last year. Microsoft will be able to offer Lynda’s videos inside its own software, such as Excel spreadsheets.
You can read Microsoft’s full announcement here
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