This is big – World’s largest software maker Microsoft has acquired Linkedin, the World’s leading professional social network. In an official announcement made today, Microsoft said that 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.
The announcement states that Linkedin will remain independent and will retain its distinct brand and culture. Jeff Weiner will remain CEO of LinkedIn and will report to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. The entire transaction is expected to close before the end of this calendar year. The transaction has been unanimously approved by the Boards of Directors of both LinkedIn and Microsoft.
Nadella, in regards to the acquisition said, “The LinkedIn team has grown a fantastic business centered on connecting the world’s professionals. 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.”
On the eve of the acquisition, Microsoft put out some interesting growth numbers of Linkedin.
- 19 percent growth year over year (YOY) to more than 433 million members worldwide
- 9 percent growth YOY to more than 105 million unique visiting members per month
- 49 percent growth YOY to 60 percent mobile usage
- 34 percent growth YOY to more than 45 billion quarterly member page views
- 101 percent growth YOY to more than 7 million active job listings
Here is Satya Nadella and Jeff Weiner talking about the acquisition.
What does it mean for users?
Nothing is going to change as far as Linkedin goes – as the press release states, Linkedin will operate independently. If anything, we may see a much improved and better Linkedin given that they now have backing of Microsoft.
What we could see in coming days is closer integration between Microsoft products, especially Office 360 with Linkedin. For example, if you use Microsoft exchange for email services, you could see more user info of a Linkedin user (using his email ID) while sending and receiving emails.
Here is something interesting – Linkedin had acquired Slideshare, founded by two Indians, Amit Ranjan and Rashmi Sinha, in 2012 for USD 119 million. We are not sure if both of them hold any Linkedin shares, but if they do, they surely have cashed in big time with this acquisition!