The company’s growth has slowed recently and investors have become far more cautious on the high valuations of many tech companies - both of which likely figured into LinkedIn’s decision to sell, analysts said.įor Microsoft, the LinkedIn deal is a chance to reverse a terrible track record with acquisitions, including paying $9.4 billion for phone maker Nokia in 2014, $1.2 billion for business network Yammer in 2012, $8.5 billion for video-calling tool Skype in 2011, and $6.3 billion for ad business aQuantive in 2007. The deal may also help spur further mergers and acquisitions in the tech sector, where a broad correction is bringing down the prices of public and private companies even as a handful of major players sit on large cash piles.įor LinkedIn, founded in 2002 and launched the following year by Reid Hoffman, one of Silicon Valley’s most-visible investors and entrepreneurs, the sale marks the end of a classic startup run: funding from top-tier venture capitalists, a long period of building the company and developing a revenue base, then a big initial public offering, followed by a roller-coaster stock price and finally an acquisition. “It’s a massive growth play for Microsoft,” said Forrester analyst Ted Schadler. Still, there was cautious optimism that this could be one of the relatively few tech mega-mergers that works out well. Analysts said the price was rich, and Microsoft’s stock closed down 2.7 percent at $50.14. The $196-per-share price tag represented a premium of almost 50 percent over LinkedIn’s stock market value as of Friday, but was still well below the social media company’s all-time high of $270. “There is no better way to realize that mission than to connect the world’s professionals.” “LinkedIn and Microsoft really share a mission” of helping people work more efficiently, said Microsoft CEO Nadella in a conference call with analysts. (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp will buy LinkedIn Corp for $26.2 billion in its biggest-ever deal, a bold stroke by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella in his efforts to make the venerable software company a major force in next-generation computing.īy connecting widely used software like Microsoft Word and PowerPoint with LinkedIn’s network of 433 million professionals, the combination could enable Microsoft to add a suite of sales, marketing and recruiting services to its core business products and potentially challenge cloud software rivals such as Inc.
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