Wow … well that kind of came out of the blue. We were expecting some sort of an announcement later this month, but we didn’t expect it to be this soon. With Linkedin under Microsoft, it can now expand its social network and reach out to millions of professionals. It’s one of the biggest acquisitions to date and eclipses the $19bn that Facebook paid for WhatsApp in 2014. Microsoft also paid $8.5bn for Skype back in 2011 and bought Nokia’s mobile phone business (Lumia) for $7.2bn in 2013.
“Microsoft is buying the professional networking website LinkedIn for just over $26bn (£18bn) in cash. The software giant will pay $196 a share – a premium of almost 50%. Shares in LinkedIn, which floated in May 2011, have fallen by more than 40% this year.
The stock plunged by a quarter in February after the company issued a profit warning for the first quarter and reported an annual loss of $8m. LinkedIn shares soared to $194.25 in pre-market trading in New York after the deal was announced.
Microsoft said that LinkedIn would retain its “distinct brand, culture and independence”, with Jeff Weiner remaining as chief executive, reporting to Microsoft boss Satya Nadella.”
Source: BBC
